#I remembered that I was part of a gift exchange so I panicked a bit lol

[new-revenant]

I saw some comics where Harley Quinn or AKA The suicide squad we're working with like justice league dark and because of that idea angsty crack misunderstanding idea

Dr Faye on one of these missions that have to do with working with suicide squad ended up bringing Phantom in but they end up having to go to the infinite realms to get Phantom

Where they see Phantom and Plasmius arguing about Dan and Ellie who are deaged to toddlers when Danny tries to break up the argument by grabbing his bag and turning into his human form saying I got to go to my internship AKA Justice League Dark

Which turns into a physical fight where both of them turn into their human forms and of course Danny ends up winning the fight and going with a Doctor Fate but the suicide squad and the other members of Justice League darker now convinced that this teenager is harboring a God and is it a toxic relationship with his godfather that he was forced to have kids with

Doctor Fate nor Danny have corrected them because they don't know that they think that so from suicide squad and the rest of the members of justice league dark it's it's a watching a teenager being a talk to relationship for the sake of the the kids and the fact that they're practically the only people of their species

For Danny it's just oh it's just Vlad being his normal fruitloop self not realizing how weird it looks from other people's point of view

This was a wild ride to read lamo. I dunno if it’s because I’m tired or not but I can comprehend nothing in this ask. Not to diss you btw, I’m being a bit hyperbolic. Yeah, Danny and Vlad’s relationship does seem a bit weird from the outside lol. Also I image that some of the JLD and the SS are just eating popcorn, watching the whole thing unfold.

[ro-written]

Don't Wanna Fall In Love pt. 2 - C.Y

A/N: Listen..I know. It’s been a hot minute lmao. I gotta say, when I first wrote this part, I hated it and literally left it to sit for a while. I finally came back to it and now I don’t mind it! Go figure that lmaoooo, but anywhosies! I’m not gonna promise when the next part will be out, but thank yall for sticking with me thus far. 

Tags/Warnings: gn!reader (I used they/them pronouns at one point), Yeonjun Has Feelings (™), reader slips on wet bricks and busts their ass, nothing crazy happens honestly

Word Count: 3.2k

Playlist:

“Clouds” by BØRNS “Tek It” by Cafuné

Next Part (Coming Soon!)

Winter break gave you a month to forget about Choi Yeonjun.

Somewhat.

You attempted to stay busy by visiting some friends and some family. You picked up some extra hours at your job to make a little extra cash for Christmas gifts. You started a new book AND a new series on TV. 

Yet there were moments when your brain would flit back to his face when you closed the door on him. Like now, how you had scanned over this sentence in the book at least 7 times now and all you could think about were his eyes. How they watched you as you shut it. How his lips seemed to frown when you looked away from him, looking like he wanted to say something more. All you could think about was the small exchange between you two.

“I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, Yeonjun…I’ll definitely see you around.”

You would smack your head lightly when you thought of that moment to try and refocus.

What bothered you the most was the fact that you couldn’t remember the night with him. All you could remember was that you invited him in. Nothing else. You wanted to ask him what he remembered, to see what exactly happened last night. But ultimately, you’d rather steer clear of him. The least amount of contact to keep from drawing any attention.

—

It annoyed him. All of it.

He couldn’t stop thinking of you. How you looked that night, the sound of your voice, how you smelled. He kept replaying all of it in his head.

Especially the moment you rushed him out of your apartment.

He remembered how panicked your face looked, and it bothered him. He tried looking for you around campus before he went home for the break, but any time he caught a glimpse of you, it seemed as if you were in a hurry to get somewhere else. 

He even found you on social media, something he really only used when he remembered it existed. When he found your account, he immediately followed you so he could message you. But you never followed back, and he didn’t want to seem weird reaching out to you. Bad enough he stalked your handle out without asking you for it.

He wasn’t winning himself any brownie points.

And for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why he was acting this way. Why he wanted so badly to talk to you about that night. He typically would immediately forget about his temporary companions within a few days. But he supposes you aren’t his typical companion.

Hell, you didn’t even sleep with him, to begin with.

He remembered quite a bit of the night. He walked you back home, you brought him inside to help sober up a bit, and you both sat on the couch talking about various things. Unlike what he was expecting, where most people immediately dragged him to the bedroom, you sat and talked. Both his and your words were messy and jumbled up, a bit slurred from the drinks you had, but you talked with him. 

You listened to him talk about his interest in music, his favorite artists, and his passion for dancing. He spoke about his interest in fashion, and how he loved expressing his identity and personality through his clothes. He talked about his love for his best friends, and how they were the brothers that he never had. You cared about what he had to say, even while tipsy.

Just thinking about it made his face burn a bit, the corners of his lips twitching a bit. He could remember how your tired eyes kept their attention on him, nodding along with what he said. Even as they drooped, you would respond to everything.

“Yeonjun,” Taehyun kicked his foot, bringing him out of his thoughts. Yeonjun’s face looked up from where he was staring at the floor, seeing all four of his best friends’ eyes looking at him. 

“You’ve been spaced out for the past ten minutes,” Hyuka filled in. 

Yeonjun nodded, giving them all an apologetic smile, and scratched the back of his head. “Sorry guys, just been out of it recently.”

“You’ve been out of it since after the end-of-semester party.” Soobin pointed out. Yeonjun raised an eyebrow, not realizing that his restlessness had been so noticeable all this time. “Something happen?” Soobin’s smirk suggested something else underlying his “innocent” question. Yeonjun just rolled his eyes and tried to refocus on the book he had been reading.

They went to Beomgyu’s uncle’s cabin for a few days before school started back up, wanting to get away from the ever-alive city. They had all agreed that they needed some bonding time together (even though they considered themselves brothers) and needed to be disconnected from the rest of the world before school pulled them back into the depths of studying. It was nice to just be near his friends and be himself, not having to be “The Fabulous Five” for a minute. Stupid name.

“Didn’t you leave out with someone?” Beomgyu piped up, tilting his head and causing the black hair he was growing out the fall in his face. “I thought I saw you head out, but I couldn’t see who you left with. Must have done a real number on you.” He snickered, turning to laugh with the others. 

Yeonjun clenched his jaw at his friends’ remarks. Typically he would laugh along with them, even if they were picking on him and his bedroom tendencies. But this time around, with him feeling so conflicted about his emotions towards you, it caused him to just grow agitated.

“I didn’t sleep with anyone that night,” he bluntly remarked back without looking up.

Actually, he hasn’t slept with anyone after that night either. But until they pieced that together, he was not freely offering that information up.

“But you left with someone, didn’t you?” Soobin’s voice piped back up, and Yeonjun rolled his eyes before finally looking at his friends spread around the room. He saw the looks they were all giving him. Ones that told him they were not planning on leaving him alone until he told them the details. He let out an exasperated sigh before setting his book down and marking the page he was on.

“Yes, I left out with someone that night. No, we did not have sex. We simply…talked. And we ended up falling asleep. I left out in the morning. That’s all there is to it.”

Except he knew that he was lying. There was undoubtedly more to it that he wasn’t letting on, given his recent habit of spacing out so much that his friends picked up on.

“Hyung,” Hyuka finally spoke up from his seated position on the floor across the coffee table. “You know you can tell us if something happened. It’s obviously bothering you.” He offered Jjun a sweet smile, one the older knew he would have trouble saying no to. He took yet another sigh, sitting up from his spread position on the couch.

“It’s just…” he slightly trailed off, not knowing what exactly he wanted to say. He hadn’t had feelings like these, whatever these were, in a few years.

“We just talked, you know? It was the first time someone outside of you all actually had an interest in what I had to say rather than just my body. Someone was interested in getting to know me beyond the surface level and…and then I was just pushed out in the morning. I was told it was all a ‘mistake.’ But what’s even worse is that I don’t even know how I feel about this person.”

Yeonjun stared down at where he was picking at his nails, slightly nervous at looking at his friends’ faces. He knows that they all remember the last relationship, and he doesn’t quite want to hear them remind him of it.

“That’s…” Taehyun reached out and put a hand on Yeonjun’s knee, offering some comfort. “It makes sense. Do you know why this other person rushed you out? Have you tried to reach out at all?”

“I have but it just seems like they don’t want anything to do with me. And, I don’t know, I just felt like we had kind of connected that night.” Taehyun looked at Soobin while Yeonjun’s head was still down, giving a look that was hard to decipher.

“If you’re really into them,” Beomgyu piped up. “I say it doesn’t hurt to maybe go to them in person when we get back to campus. See what their deal is. Maybe they don’t know how to approach you.” He shrugged his shoulders and looked at his friend with sympathetic eyes.

“Yeah, 'cause you’re the least approachable out of us,” Hyuka smirked and Beomgyu lightly shoved him, causing Yeonjun to smile, finally relaxing a bit.

Jjun nodded and looked around at his brothers. “I’m definitely going to try.”

—

First day of the Spring semester…and you completely embarrassed yourself in front of your classroom building. Of course, the rain was pouring heavily as you walked down the sidewalk, making you slide across the bricks. You didn’t have your rain boots anymore after someone (read: Jung Wooyoung) put them in the washer and dryer. So now you were stuck with your sneakers trying to watch where you trekked. It took carefully placed steps and really thinking about your walking for you to almost make it to your class without busting your ass. 

Almost.

Because, just as you were only a few steps from the door, you made the worst mistake of your life, and stepped on the wrong brick. Your foot slipped from under you, and your umbrella went up into the air as you put your hands down to catch yourself from completely bruising your behind. 

“Mother fucker,” you hissed out, placing a hand on your lower back as a shot of pain went through your body.

“Are you okay?” A voice asked from behind you called out over the heavy rain. Awesome.

A firm hand grabs at your bicep, gently helping you up as you slightly limped over to where your umbrella fell, pulling it over your head so you could keep yourself from getting any more drenched.

“Sorry, yeah I’m good, just didn’t–” You turned around to face the person who helped you up, only for the rest of your words to get caught in your throat.

Choi. Yeonjun. Of fucking course.

“Oh, hey.” It was all you could muster in your surprised state, and you were sure your voice gave away your shock. You hadn’t expected to run into him on your first day back, but here you were anyways. In fact, thinking over it, you were surprised to see him on this side of campus. He was a fashion and music double major…so what was he doing at the math building?

“How ha–”

“Sorry, I gotta…gotta get to class.” You interrupted him and gripping your umbrella tightly in your one hand, rushed to the front door to pull it open. You don’t typically consider yourself to be a rude person, not normally interrupting someone in the middle of their sentences and rushing off like that. But every time you had spotted Yeonjun since that night in your apartment, you would hurry off or hide. Simply put, you just didn’t want to deal with those feelings, nor draw any attention that came with interacting with him. And if dodging and ducking him was what you had to do for the rest of your time at the school, then so be it.

You hurriedly found your class, opening the door and finding a seat towards the farthest side of the room away from the door, somewhere in the middle. You took a deep breath, trying to slow your beating heart from everything that had happened in the past 10 minutes. You shifted a bit, thankful that these seats were cloth rather than the colder plastic the other buildings tended to have. It helped considering the backside of your jeans was still very wet and cold. 

Sitting for a second, you took a moment to recollect yourself. All you had to do was make it through this semester, and then it would be summertime. He would forget all about you over the summer with his summer flings, and the rest of your time here would be fine. No dodging or diving. Your only job now was to focus on classes and made sure you finished off the year strong. Not only did you have schoolwork, but you had your friends, family, and job to worry about. As well as the future, of course. That would take your mind off Yeonjun.

Pulling out your laptop and a notebook, you heard the door to the room open up, letting out a loud groan from its age. A small gasp came from behind you, and some murmurs filled the room. Quirking an eyebrow, you looked up from your laptop. 

Your eyes widened, meeting the last person you wanted to see.

Choi. Yeon. Jun.

—

Every class, you could feel his eyes boring into the back of your head, and it would cause you to lose focus. The first few times you tried to shrug it off. You figured that, eventually, he would have to give up. He would have to get tired of chasing you around. To your dismay, you’d come to find out that Choi Yeonjun was a very persistent man, and as the staring didn’t stop, you ultimately got irritated by it.

A few times you would turn your head around, attempting to not bring too much attention, and try to give him a glare, telling him to knock it off. However, this time, as soon as you turned your head around, he would be the one to look away, a small smirk playing on his lips. It would make you clench your jaw in frustration, but you would have to learn how to block it out.

Another routine that persisted in your shared class was that, after each session, he would quickly pack up and start making his way over to you. And you in turn, seeing him approach you out of the corner of your eye, would pack your things faster and borderline sprint to the door, knowing the last thing you needed now was him talking to you in front of the class.

He couldn’t understand it. He knew now that you were trying to avoid him, seeing you walk quicker every time you noticed him. But he didn’t understand why. You seemed so interested in him that night. You both talked about everything, talked about who you were as people. Who you both hoped to become in the future.

So why were you being so cold now?

—

“Why are you avoiding me?

“Huh?”

You had been leaving your last class to catch the bus to get to your apartment. However, when a hand grabbed at your arm and dragged you into an empty classroom, you couldn’t help but let out a small yelp of surprise, your other hand coming up ready to stat hitting at whoever it was.

Only, when you saw who it was, you lowered your arm, despite still having half a mind to hit him for scaring you. His question didn’t quite fully register in your brain due to the sizzy nature of everything happening so fast.

His eyes narrowed at you, jaw tensed. “You’re avoiding me. Why?”

You moved so his hand would let go of your bicep, shifting around your bag in order to keep your hands busy. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yes, you do, (Y/N). You know exactly what I’m talking about. You always run the opposite way when you see me, you respond to everything I say in less than three words, and you’re looking at me right now like I’ve grown two heads. So why are you avoiding me?”

Your eyes rolled and you planted your feet down, standing your ground as you looked him in the eye. “God, Yeonjun, I told you that night was a mis–” 

“I know. You said that, and I know that’s what you think.” His teeth gritted.

“Look all we did was sleep together and that’s it, I don’t understand why I am so different from all your other conquests.”

His brain felt like it just did tripped over itself, and it took him a second to thoroughly process the words you said to him.

“Wh–...So…Wait you’ve been avoiding me because you think we fucked?” His eyebrows shot up in shock and you slowly nodded your head, confused at what he was trying to say. He let out a scoff before a chuckle, turning his head to the door that he had pushed you through.

“God, if I had realized…” he trailed off, and your eyebrows pulled taut at where he was going. He finally leveled with your eyes and let out a deep sigh. “(Y/N), we didn’t have sex that night.”

He may as well have splashed ice-cold water on you with the way you froze. Your eyes went wide at his admission and you felt - and probably looked - like a deer in headlights. Your eyes went unfocused and fuzzy. Your cheeks burned in embarrassment at the fact that you had been dodging him the entire time for something that never actually happened.

“That night,” he continued, looking down at where his hands started to fidget. “We went back to your apartment, and you asked me to come inside so I could sober up. I did think at first that you were about to lead me into your bedroom. I mean, that’s what I’m used to. But you told me to sit on the couch and you went to get us both some water.”

A flash of a blurry memory played in your head, remembering how your head was slightly spinning filling the cups and walking back to the living room.

“And then we just started to talk. That was really all it was. Us talking about…well, everything. We talked about school and then that led to us talking about what we wanted to do in the future and our hobbies–”

“You really like J.Cole.” You interrupted him and watched as his eyes shot up to meet yours. “And…and you want to wear skirts more because you enjoy the feminine look it adds to your style.” 

A smile graced his face, his eyes lighting up at the small details you happened to remember. You wouldn’t admit it aloud, but it made your heart flutter in the tiniest bit. “Exactly.” 

His hand twitched, and he looked as if he was considering something, before he shook his head and continued to play with the skin around his nails.

“It’s just,” he continued as he stared at his hands once more. “I really enjoyed our talk. It felt as if…it felt like someone saw me. And…I don’t know, I was just wondering that, since you know all that now…” He clenched his fists, trying to find his words. Jesus christ, it shouldn’t be this hard. 

Finally, he sputtered out his question. “I was wondering if it would be okay if we hung out a little?”

Once again, your body froze up.

“No.”

And you left the classroom.

This was written by @/ro-written and is not to be plagiarized, translated, or distributed anywhere else. Copyright Ro-Written 2023.

All comments, reblogs, and likes are always welcome!

[reira-layla]

Valentine's Day

Plot: Akito and Shigure spend their first Valentine's Day together as a couple and exchange meaningful gifts.

"Shigure…" Arms outstretched towards his side of the bed. It took her a moment to realize that the smoke alarm was going off. Sitting up in bed, she panicked when she smelled the burnt smell coming from the kitchen. Given that this had never happened before, Akito was understandably shaken. Without hesitation, she got out of bed and made her way to the kitchen, not bothering to put on any clothes. 

When she approached the kitchen, she saw Shigure attempting to pour water on a burning pan. The flames were instantly extinguished but the smoke alarm continued for a few moments before silencing. Smoke rose from the pan in Shigure's hand. Akito looked around the room, wondering where the maids were. 

"What happened? Where is everyone?"

Shigure looked her over, smirking as his eyes went wide when he saw her nakedness. "I gave the maids the day off. It's Valentine's Day. I'm sure even the ones that are thousands of years old have someone to spend the day with." He laughed, amused by his own idiotic humor. "Besides, I wanted to make breakfast for you. As you can see, that didn't work out so well." The pan was still smoking in his hand. 

Valentine's Day. Akito had never been a fan of the holiday. In the past, Shigure had always come to visit her. Sometimes he brought chocolate and other times, he simply came to sit with her. This year was different. It was their first Valentine's Day as a couple and clearly Shigure had wanted to make it special. She just wished that he wouldn't have sent the maids home in an attempt to cook for her. As sweet as the sentiment was, there was a reason Tohru had done all the cooking when he'd lived at his old house. 

Remembering that she was still naked, he carefully set down the pan and made his way to her. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her close. "I love you," he whispered. She closed her eyes, relaxing in his warm embrace. It was hard to believe this was her life. She had never been this happy before. Not only did she have a man that truly loved the darkest parts of her but he also went out of his way to do things for her. 

"I love you. Probably a little too much. I don't think I could ever live without you… Wow, I never thought I'd say those words to anyone, especially you." Akito had always loved Shigure but she never thought that they'd end up being so happy together. "Anyway, what are we going to eat now that breakfast is ruined?"

"Fortunately, I had a backup plan." He left her side and went over to grab a container he'd set out. "I had a feeling this plan of mine might fail so I asked Tohru to make pancakes." Akito laughed a little. He was hopeless at times and it had always been amusing to her. 

The lovers ate their breakfast together, talking about their plans for the day. "Since breakfast was a failure, perhaps we should go out tonight. I have a gift for you but you'll get that tonight, after dinner."

Naturally she wondered what the gift could possibly be. Although she hadn't said anything, she had a gift for him as well. Her gift for him was so sentimental that she honestly felt a little embarrassed about giving it to him but she knew him well enough to know that he'd appreciate it. 

"Dinner sounds good," she said, finishing up the last bit of food on her plate. 

"Then it's settled. Now if you'll excuse me, I have something I need to do." He stood up and kissed her head before leaving the room. Akito watched him leave with wide eyes. Given that she'd never had a 'normal' relationship before this, she didn't quite understand why people made such a big deal out of Valentine's Day. Shigure had always been a fan of the holiday, even when they were children.

"Akito," he called. Confused, she stood up and made her way towards their bedroom. A bouquet of camellias and a big box of chocolate had been set down on the futon. Although she had been expecting something like this, it was still a bit shocking that he was doing all of this for her. It was hard to believe that less than a year ago they'd been at each other's throats. 

"I love you. Thank you." The look in her eyes was genuine. Truly, she felt so thankful that he'd stayed when all the others had left. He wasn't bound by obligation but had made the choice to be by her side. Carefully, she sat down and grabbed the camellias. This special flower seemed to be a representation of their love throughout the years. It had taken them a while to get it right but they were finally happy. 

Shigure went to sit beside her, taking her into his arms. "I love you. Now let’s eat these chocolates together and then I'll have my way with you until it's time for us to leave for dinner." Akito blushed but nodded in agreement. 

The lovers spent the majority of their day in bed, making love, eating chocolate, and reminiscing on the past. The ugly parts of their past no longer mattered. Neither spoke of Kureno or Ren. Their conversations mostly centered around the memories they had together as children. Shigure had told her the story of their first meeting for the hundredth time. She knew it by heart now. They'd spent hours talking about the love they'd had for one another for years. Both expressed the gratitude they felt for how things fell into place. 

After hours of talking, they decided it was time to get ready for dinner. As Shigure was getting ready, Akito thought about the gift she had for him. Something about giving it to him made her feel vulnerable in a way that she wasn't used to. The plan had been for them to exchange gifts after dinner but Akito felt that if she didn't give him the gift now, she'd lose all nerve to do so later. 

Moving a bit uncomfortably in the dress he'd picked out for her, she made her way over to the cabinet which had once housed the empty box she'd been told held her father's spirit. Now the cabinet was used for storage. Carefully, she took the photo album from the cabinet and held it behind her back. 

"I know we said we were waiting until after dinner but I feel like I'd lose my nerve to give it to you." Akito handed Shigure the photo album. "You'll be surprised to know that I had help from Ayame with this. It was excruciating and I left his shop with a horrendous headache so I hope you appreciate it."

Shigure laughed, thinking about Akito having to put up with Aaya was amusing. Taking the photo album from her, he began to flip through the pages. Most of the photos were recent, photos that had been taken over the last year. The photos at the back of the album were what surprised him. There was a copy of the photo of the two of them that he'd kept with him for years, the one from Ayame's camera. He had never seen the other photos. Again, he found himself feeling amused. Of course Ayame would take photos of them without their knowledge. They were just children but it was clear from the photos that there had always been love between them.

Most of the photos were taken outside. Many of them were of them playing together. As a child, Akito had frequently asked them to play with her. There were a few photos of them playing in the dirt which he had many memories of. There were photos from their water gun fights. His eyes went wide upon seeing photos of them asleep. He remembered this time in their lives fondly. It was before her father died. After school each day, he'd come over to read to her and somehow, they always ended up napping together. 

"Aaya had these? I'm surprised he never showed them to me before."

"He said he held onto them because he knew you'd want them someday. Do you like it?"

"Yes, I do. Very much, actually." The gift meant more to him than he could express. The photo album was evidence that they'd loved one another for a very long time. Her love had never been as obvious as his. In fact, there were many times before they'd decided to be together when he'd questioned whether she'd ever loved him at all. Little did he know that she'd felt the same at times, wondering whether he truly loved her or not. 

Without another word, he made his way to her and pressed his lips against hers. "I love you. Thank you for such a meaningful gift. I fear the gift I have for you isn't as sentimental." He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a small box, handing it to her. She looked at him before opening the box. Inside was a small ring. Her eyes went wide.

"It's not what you think. Not yet, anyway. When I do ask you to marry me, the ring will be a lot bigger," he said as he chuckled. She blushed. There was no doubt in his mind that he'd marry her someday but he planned to make the proposal as special as possible. "It's a promise to you that I'm yours, as long as you'll have me. It's also a promise that someday I will give you another ring."

Akito blushed once again. Since they'd made their relationship official after the curse had ended, she'd dreamed of being his wife one day and now she had the promise that her dream would come to fruition someday. She took the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger. 

"As I said, it's nowhere near as sentimental as the gift you've given me but I do hope you like it." 

Her eyes were damp, just as he'd expected. "I love it. It is sentimental." She looked down at the ring and kissed him for what was likely the hundredth time that day. 

He smiled one of those rare smiles, one reserved only for her. "Now, shall we go to dinner?" She nodded, taking his hand. 

[fangirlshrewt97]

Come Rest Your Weary Head (Part 4)

All right, this section was one of the main reasons I wrote this fic, but ultimately the scene turned out very differently to what I had originally envisioned. The main detail is still there though, so I think the scene is still nice. 

Also, I’m a little sick still so I did my best to proofread, but apologies if I missed any egregious mistakes. 

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 5) (Part 6)

///

“Anna!” came Malli’s voice from the thicket of trees.

“Malli?” Bheem called out, face splitting into a wide smile when the young girl emerged, followed by Ram.

They had arrived back in Bheem’s village a couple weeks ago, and for some reason he could not figure out, Malli had gotten over her apprehension over Ram and stuck to him the whole time. It amused Bheem how much Ram could maintain a stoic face in front of the most brutal type of violence but panicked whenever any child not from his village approached him.

Bheem climbed down from the tree post he had been sitting in, meeting them at the base as the pair came to a stop. “Well, what a lovely surprise. What are you guys doing out here?”

Ram sputtered before looked away shyly. Malli beamed at him, and nudged Ram’s side.

“We came to see you Anna! Ram Anna has a gift for you!”

“A gift?” Bheem asked, confused. When he looked at the man in question, his cheeks were several shades darker.

“Yeah!” Malli shouted in excitement. And then when Ram did not add anything elbowed him hard enough to make him stumble.

Ram scowled at Malli, but Malli glared at him, which immediately cowed him. Bheem bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at the exchange.

Clearing his throat, Ram came to stand in front of Bheem, hesitating as he removed a small parcel wrapped in an old cloth from his waist. “For you.”

Bheem accepted the gift with a wide smile, a similar blush coloring his own cheeks as he became aware of how closely Malli was looking at the two of them. “Can I… can I open it now?”

Ram nodded stiffly, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. He was nervous. Bheem gave him a side glance as he opened the small ribbon tying the package together. He gasped as the cloth fell away to reveal a delicate little wooden flute in the center. A peacock feather in Malli’s style adored one end of the flute.

When Bheem looked up at the pair, both were looking at him eagerly, though Malli with anticipation, and Ram with something akin to fear. “It’s stunning Ram. How did you know I used to play the flute?”

“I uh… I overheard a conversation last time we were here, but then things got so busy I couldn’t ask you. So this time when we came to visit, I asked Malli, and thought I would try to make one myself. She was a big help, I’d never tried to make a flute before, and I think it turned out decent in the end.”

Well that explained the girl’s change in behavior. Wait …”You made this?”

Ram blushed further somehow. “I’m not an expert or anything but I used to help my dad with repairing the wooden practice weapons, and learned a little woodcarving from there.”

Bheem looked at the gift with new perspective, feeling warmth overflowing in his chest as he clutched his gift to his heart.

“Anna, will you play us a song?” Malli asked as she came close too, hooking her arms around Bheem’s bicep and giving him her best pleading eyes.

Bheem laughed and bent to nuzzle noses with her, making the girl giggle. “For my little Malli, who drew such a lovely design for me? Of course I will. But it has been several years, so I am very out of practice.”

Ram smiled at him. “I’ve heard music is just like dance, the body remembers even in the mind takes a minute to catch up.”

Bheem raised an eyebrow at him. “The body remembers, huh?”

Ram’s eyes widened, jaw dropping as his eyes darted in fear at Malli who was looking between them confused.

Bheem let Ram’s panic continue for another few moments before he laughed, making the other man scowl again and lightly hit his shoulder. Bheem darted forward to press a kiss to Ram’s cheek. “Sorry, Bangaram, I couldn’t help it.”

When he moved away, Ram mumbled something but he was red again, so Bheem figured he was forgiven.

“Why don’t you two come up with me to the post, then I’ll play you something?”

Ram looked at the wooden rungs tied with sturdy rope and the flat platform that made up the post. “Wait, but if you play music won’t it alert whoever might be coming there is a guard?”

Bheem looked at him in bewilderment before laughing. “Ram, we are in the forest, these posts are more to ensure no dangerous animals come too close to the village. If a human were to find their way here, it will be because they are lost or they knew exactly where to come. Either way, playing music would be a good thing.”

“Oh.” Ram replied sheepishly.

Bheem bumped his shoulder good-naturedly. “Ok Malli, me first, then you, lastly Ram.”

Malli and Ram nodded, and soon enough all three were comfortably seated on the blanket Bheem had laid out of the platform.

Ram inspected the post, the hip height railing that ran its perimeter, the small alcove in the tree filled with horns and some basic potions and pastes.

“Up to your standards, Bangaram?” Bheem teased.

Ram scratched his head at being caught but nodded. “It’s sturdy, and the height means you have the advantage. Plus it’s surprisingly big compared to what it looks like from below.”

Bheem nodded. “We build them to be able to hold three grown men if need be. During the night shifts, we guard in shifts of two. See there is even a tarp that can be unrolled for the rainy season.”

Malli having grown tired of the conversation poked at Bheem’s arm. “Anna! Play something!”

Bheem ran a hand over her head. “Sorry Malli. I’ll play now. Will you sing with me?”

The girl pursed her lips as she thought before shaking her head. “Another day?” She yawned. “I’m tired.”

Bheem laughed and conceded. Satisfied, the girl laid down, her head essentially pillowed on Bheem’s stomach, and closed her eyes.

Patting her side once, Bheem unwrapped the flute fully, running his fingers across the instrument. He closed his eyes as he drew in a large breath before he brought it to his lips.

///

Ram closed his eyes as the first gentle notes started to sound, fingers mimicking the tune against his thigh. It had been such a fanciful thought, the idea of creating an instrument. His hands which had only known violence and hurt, designing something so delicate? So beautiful? For someone like Bheem?

But his heart had persisted, and then Malli. And so, under the little girl’s supervision, and Peddaiyna’s direction, Ram had finished the flute. Which Malli had insisted needed to be made pretty and immediately stolen it away to draw a few designs on.

Of course he had also then immediately stolen it back and hidden it away among his clothes, clueless as to how to present it to Bheem. Malli had been persistent though, and could be very scary sometimes. Basically pushing him here today when she realized he had still not given Bheem the gift. There may have also been some threatening about not to let him sleep peacefully unless he gave Bheem the flute.

The way Bheem’s eyes had shone when he had seen the gift had been worth all the anxiety though. Ram had felt so light, like he would float away from the joy. Now here he was, surrounded by the trees that had raised Bheem, listening to Bheem play gorgeous melody after gorgeous melody. Beauty aided partially by something Ram had created.

When the song Bheem had been playing stopped abruptly on a discordant note, Ram’s eyes popped open, he sat up a looked around for the danger. But nothing caught his sight, and when he looked at Bheem, he was watching him with sadness. Malli was peacefully slumbering on him.

“Bheem?”

“You’re crying.”

“Cry-?” Ram asked, bringing a hand to his cheek, only to find tears falling. Oh. When had he started crying?

“What happened Ram?” Bheem asked softly as he lowered the flute.

Ram shook his head as emotion lumped in his throat. “Nothing. Please don’t stop playing.”

“Ram…”

Ram sighed, “I never thought I would be able to make anything beautiful. Or that my hands knew how to do anything but hurt and destroy and kill. But somehow, I was also able to make this flute from which you are playing such beautiful songs. I am happy. That’s all.”

“Oh Bangaram, come here.” Bheem called out, holding out his hand. Ram took it, letting himself be pulled close till Bheem had him laying down on the opposite side of Malli, head cushioned on his lap.

Ram fought to quiet his sobs as Bheem ran tender fingers through his hair. The last person who had touched him so tenderly had been his own mother. Bheem did not say anything as Ram turned to bury his face into Bheem’s hip. Just switching to stroke the length of his spine.

When Ram finally stopped shaking, Bheem shifted slightly and then the music resumed.

Ram fell asleep like that, pressed close enough to hear Bheem’s blood rushing under one ear, and the beautiful melody Bheem was playing from his instrument in the other.  

///

Guys, please let me know with even just a word if you like it, your feedback is 90% of my motivation to keep writing and publishing. 

Tagging (Please please work, Tumblr I beg you):  @rambheem-is-real @budugu @bromance-minus-the-b @kafkaesquebestie @hissterical-nyaan @obsessedtoafault @hufhkbgg @yehsahihai @rorapostsbl @bluesolace1 @fadedscarlets @alikokinav @chaotic-moonlight @rambheemisgoated @rambheemlove @jaganmaya @adikavy @burningsheepcrown @lovingperfectionwonderland @rosayounan @iam-siriuslysher-lokid @thewinchestergirl1208 @dumdaradumdaradum @ronaldofandom @jjwolfesworld @percikawantstoread @kashpaymentsonly @jeonmahi1864 @zackcrazyvalentine @stanleykubricks @ronnoxandlumoss @m3gs1mps4a @tulodiscord

[chasingpj]

𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬

pairing: percy jackson x child of zeus!reader and jason x older sibling!reader

requested: yes!

warning: two curse words, mentions of stealing, death of a parent, and i believe that is it!

category: headcanons, fluff

a/n: i may have gotten too carried away but... i had a lot of fun writing this haha. i hope you guys like it!

pre-relationship

you and percy invented the phrase power couple but coming together took a while

your relationship dynamic would be very similar to thalia and percy's at first

you're both natural-born leaders, so you guys butt heads very often

you're more calculated and organized when it comes to things and percy being impulsive really annoyed you

he's lucky that even though he is impulsive, things somehow always work out in the end

if it wasn't for annabeth urging you guys to get along, you probably would still be at each other's neck

how did she get you guys to get along, you may ask?

she locked you guys in a storage closet :)

and said figure it out ♡

this happened after a friendly sparring practice turned into a full-on fight with your powers

annabeth insisted she wouldn't let you guys out until you declared to be friends

at the time, you were like, percy will never be my friend, ew

percy was just as annoyed

after a good hour of bickering and resisting your urge to choke him out

you guys found that you had a lot in common, actually?

huh, who would have known?

apparently annabeth

you guys talked about your life outside of camp and bonded over the worst teachers you've ever had

turns out, percy wasn't that bad

you'd never admit that out loud though

after a while, you started to feel things

were percy's eyes always that pretty?

yes, they've always been

oh look, those freckles over his nose? adorable

did you just call Percy adorable? yeah, you did… gross

you tried to deny your attraction to him

you were pretty sure this was a cruel joke from aphrodite (it was… more for your dad's than for you guys, though)

then you started noticing changes in his behavior too

now you guys were sharing blankets at the campfire when it got chilly

he even shared the blue cookies his mother sent him too

that's when you should have known he was down bad

both of you have awful sleep schedules

you hated sleeping in cabin 1

it was clearly built not to be slept in, and every few days, you found yourself having late-night conversations with percy at the docks

once the harpies snuck up on you and percy told you to get in the water with him

you didn't know how to swim, and you were kinda horrified of open water

you wanted to refuse, but you were cornered on the docks

you either jumped or got eaten

the last thing you said was that you couldn't swim before percy didn't give you a choice

he grabbed your hand and jumped in

his arm wrapped around your waist to keep you in the air bubble he had made around you guys

at first, you didn't focus on it

too busy trying to defend yourself from his teasing

he continued to mimic the way you screamed when he dragged you into the water

"wow, you can fly, but you can't swim?"

you rolled your eyes, trying to defend yourself

you called him annoying, and he playfully threatened to let you drown

you guys joked and laughed, staying a little too long underwater

after your laughter ceased, you found yourself looking into his eyes

the both of you became quiet

suddenly his arm around your waist, the way your chests were pressed against each other made you horribly flustered

and you're not sure what you were thinking

actually, you weren't thinking at all, but you leaned in and kissed him

like really kissed him, it was a proper kiss

ahhhhhh!!!

probably would have kissed him longer if the water nymphs didn't giggle, exposing their little audience

once you pulled away, they scattered, ready to gossip about what they saw

the news made it to atlantis pretty fast

after the kiss, things were so awkward

you avoided him for days, and he avoided you

annabeth felt the tension, and she was upset because just when you guys were getting along, suddenly, you guys were avoiding each other

the battle of manhattan was approaching soon and the last thing anyone wanted was for you guys not to get along

you both avoided annabeth’s questions, not ready to confess what you guys had shared

eventually, annabeth kept pressing you about what happened

you blew up and admitted that you made out with percy in the water

annabeth was speechless before she burst into laughter

you didn't understand why it was so funny at first

but then you did

the both of you laughed until annabeth said that she wasn't surprised at all

the battle of manhattan comes around, and in the urgency of the moment, you guys were able to rise to the occasion

your movements, thoughts, commands were completely coordinated

you guys were an extension of each other, kicking ass

at the end, you were both offered immortality

the offer took you back to a conversation you guys had where you spoke about how you'd never want to be immortal

the both of you exchanged looks before you simultaneously denied the gift

zeus was offended x2

after that, you guys returned to camp half-blood

the both of you were upset at the campers you've lost and trying to recover from the adrenaline of battle

you and annabeth sang percy happy birthday and the three of you sat together and ate blue cake in a comfortable silence

weeks passed, and one day, you're met with annabeth barging into your cabin asking when you and percy are going to talk about your kiss

it was the last day of camp, and she was insistent on you talking to him

you reluctantly agreed, mainly because annabeth threatened to lock you in a storage closet again

you guys sat on the dunes in silence for a while

the both of you wanted to confess, but neither knew how to do it

after some silence, the both of you spoke at the same time

you stuttered over each other and then began bickering back and forth on who should go first until you blurted out that you like him

you cringed and looked away as percy froze in his spot

it was silent for a moment before percy whispered, "I like you too."

cue your second kiss

your teeth slightly bumping with his since the both of you were smiling so much

and you swore you heard thunder in the distance even though there were clear skies

relationship

you lived in a foster home on the other side of manhattan, so you guys saw each other every weekend

you guys went on movie dates, long drives, and you would sleep over pretty often

for the spooky season, you went to haunted houses and carved pumpkins

you watched horror movies together, teasing each other when one of you jumped and tried to cover your face during the scary parts

you went to his place for Thanksgiving and you arrived early so that the both of you could help sally cook all day

you and percy put blue food coloring on the mashed potatoes

for the first time ever, you felt like you were apart of a family since sally had welcomed you with open arms

everything was going great but then december came around

the last time you saw percy, you guys were christmas shopping for his mom

your last day of school ended a few days after his, so you planned to meet at CHB

but when you got there, you found out he never arrived

you called his home from the payphone in the big house

sally was relieved to hear from you, a part of her hoping he was with you

but you both found out that neither of you had heard from him in a few days

meeting jason

you and annabeth tried everything to find him

then you got a dream from hera that the answer to where percy is was with the guy with one shoe

you arrive and you find this blonde kid and not your boyfriend; you were kinda actually very annoyed

but this blonde kid felt familiar

you weren't sure what it was, and then you heard his name — Jason Grace

surely, it was a coincidence that he shared the name of your missing brother

you were too young to remember his disappearance

the only remembrance you had of him was a picture of the both of you as toddlers sitting happily beside thalia

you always wondered who was the little boy in the photo and it wasn't until a few years ago did thalia tell you about him disappearing

you were a bit wary of him at first, especially since he had no memory of where he came from

it wasn't until he conjured lightning with his sword, did you have no doubt in your mind that he was your brother

the first night you guys spent in the cabin together was awkward

you couldn't really catch up since he didn't remember anything, so you told him what thalia told you about him and your mother

you didn't reveal him everything, not wanting to overwhelm him and you had decided to call it a night before you went into detail

you explained the rest of the story after he came back from his quest

you tried to ask him questions hoping he’d remember more, but his memory wasn't coming back fast enough

both you and jason were growing frustrated, so one day you iris messaged thalia

the both of you came up with an idea to jog jason's memory by showing him things that he enjoyed as a toddler

jason was pretty sure it wouldn't work, but he went along with it

thalia recalled that the two of you really liked watching the flintstones as babies

so you and jason sat down and watched every season available on dvd

and well, it didn't work...

thalia also mentioned you both really liked sweets, so you tried to jog his memory with candy bars

you had to convince jason to sneak out of camp with you

he thought it was such a bad idea, but you reassured him he'd be fine

after reluctantly agreeing, jason and you escaped at night to buy actually steal candy bars from the closest gas station

jason panicked as he watches you shove candy bars in your sweatshirt

"we're gonna get caught"

"if you keep looking that scared, we just might," you replied a little too calmly

he tried to relax, but he just looked like he saw a ghost the entire time

on your way back, you may have electrocuted a harpy and fought a couple cyclops and all the fighting and running made you lose one of your snicker bars

you were upset, to say the least

unfortunately, after stuffing him with chocolate, that didn't work either

then you tried to show him the few pictures you were able to salvage before you were taken to the foster home after the death of your mother

jason sat in front of you on the floor as you pulled the box from under your bed

you smiled, finding an old picture of your mother, and you put it up to his face, taking in the similarities between the two

"yep, you look just like her," you confirmed as you smiled sadly

even though jason didn't know her, he felt a sense of pride when you had told him so

every time a memory would come back, you were the first person he told

when his memories with lupa came back, you were shook

and then you teased him, saying that he's basically a dog

once you threw a twig and told him to go fetch

he didn't find it as funny as you and leo did, but oh well

you also asked if he howled at full moons, and you were met with the straightest face you've ever seen on jason

it was the funniest thing ever to you

every week you guys kicked ass in capture the flag

you guys were more alike than you thought

it was guaranteed that whichever team you were on would win

in the months when the argo II was being built, you had a lot of times to bond with jason

your dynamic was really fun as you were a bit more rebellious and silly while he was a lot more responsible and mature

after the argo II departed

you reuniting with percy was something you thought about for months

you were so excited when the argo II was officially ready to fly over to camp jupiter

your pulse was thumping in your ears when you saw percy in the crowd

after months of worrying about where he was and if he was still alive, it was almost surreal to see him right in front of you

you lunged into him so hard, he stumbled back as you kissed him

just like your second kiss, the both of you were smiling so hard your teeth kept bumping against his

"i love your new look," you commented on his toga, and he snorted,

"yeah?"

"oh yeah, it's kinda hot."

the both of you laughed, content to be in each other's arms again

after getting on the argo II, you were the reason jason and percy formed some sort of a friendship

you were the mutual ground for the both of them since they had a soft spot for you

the tension between the two was something you couldn't disregard and you hated how weird it was at the beginning

if they butted heads, you tried to mend the problem

you understood both of them well enough to understand where they came from

at some point, you and annabeth thought it would be funny to lock them in a storage closet

so you did

they kept complaining to be let out but eventually, they gave in

little did they know that you were standing near the door and listening to their conversation

jason told him how you helped him a lot and all the ridiculous things you made him do

and percy shared stories of you from quests and at camp

the both of them laughed and bonded over having someone as amazing as you in their lives

"y/n is pretty great," percy smiles

"yeah, they are," jason agreed

needless to say, your heart warmed at the praise from your two favorite boys

masterlists taglist: @xxyrr @nct127bee @mochabreezeee @minamisulemisa @yanfeisluvr @Slytherclaw-kitten @-thatgirloverthere- @passionswift @nanskidoodle @idk-bye-no @ilikefluffygingercats @all-hailreyna @autmngirlworld @Sunkissedskin1328 @Hermioneswifeee @quteez @hajigayy @aleksanderwh0r3 @drayshadow @tonyedwardstarkk @londoncherry @ashookykooky @lotusnegra666 @loverstyless

[anadorablekiwi]

A Wild Link Appears!

Word count: 1689

Summary: Flora sneaks out of the castle to collect plant samples in the forest nearby and encounters someone new

(Part of an AU i have yet to officially name yet, so far its just ‘the links are all basically related and its all zelink minus Time/Malon)

Flora glanced at the clock in her bedroom, and noting the time quickly closed the door and donned her new outfit. ‘Oh, this is gonna be Great,’ she thought excitedly as she wrapped the scarf around the lower half of her face. She then grabbed a crossbody bag and opened the door slowly, looking around before emerging from her room and quickly making her way out of the castle.

The caution was simply habit at this point, Flora had escaped the castle alone so often she had all the guard routines memorized. But now she had a fancy stealth outfit, so she was going all out with the ‘sneaky ninja’ dramatics.

The outfit was actually a gift from her oldest sister, Artemis. After realizing that she was never going to be able to get Flora to stop sneaking out of the castle to go ‘study plants in the forest,’ she decided if you can’t beat them, you may as well help them. Besides, it's not like Arty doesn’t have a disguise/stealth outfit of her own. So she helped Flora design and make her own. Flora, of course, was delighted to get help, from Arty no less. So the day after they finished it, she planned another escape.

She ran up to the guard tower, back to the cool stone and listening for the guard exchange to happen. Once she heard the voices, she took her chance and bolted for the cover of the forest, noticed by no one.

‘Oh boy, this is SO much more fun in a stealth outfit! Ooo, is that blue nightshade?’ The princess casually wandered the forest, looking for plants to identify and occasionally taking some ‘samples’ for ‘later studies.’

As she was examining a large bush near a tree, she heard voices approaching. Panicking, Flora did the first thing to cross her mind, and began swiftly climbing the tree. She climbed high enough that she couldn’t see the ground through all the foliage, hoping that she would be invisible to the passers-by. As the voices got louder, she began to pick out what they were saying.

“Oh come on, you know you love this” one voice exclaimed in a teasing tone.

A second voice joined in. “Yeah, besides. You need to get out more, the sunshine is good for you! With how much time you spend in the forge with Four, it’s a surprise you’re not pale as a poe!”

“I am not that pale, thank-you-very-much, and no, Wild, I do Not enjoy supervising you two as you romp through the forest, trying your best to get us lost.” This third voice sounded annoyed, but Flora thought she heard a little bit of fondness hiding behind the harsh tone. “Speaking of, how far have we even gotten?”

The first voice piped up again. ‘Wild, was it?’ “Hey Legend, how many rupees do you wanna bet I can climb that tree in 30 seconds?”

There was a silence for a few seconds, before voice number three, likely this Legend in question, responded. “50 rupees says you can’t.”

“I don’t have any rupees to bet, but I think you can do it, Wild!” voice 2 said.

“Thank you, Hyrule,” ‘What a strange name,’ Flora thought. “At least someone believes in me.” At that, the discussion stopped and she heard sounds that likely indicated Wild, whoever he was, had begun to climb.

‘Wait, that sounds really close. Which tree is he climbing?’ With a haunting suspicion, she glanced down and looked for movement below her. Sure enough, some of the branches began to move.

‘Crap crap crap… what do I do…’ Flora looked around the tree she was sitting in, looking for anywhere she could hide. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to go. And no time, it seems.

A blond head popped up, literally inches from her own. She and the climber stared at each other for a couple seconds, wide eyed, before he screamed, causing her to scream as well. Both tried to move away from the other. Too late, Flora remembered they were in a tree as she fell from it, the large bush she had been examining earlier cushioning her fall so she only got a few cuts and bruises.

There was a large thud, and what sounded like three boys groaning. ‘It seems he had a soft landing,’ she thought, smiling to herself.

She heard footsteps, and Wild called out, voice full of concern. “Um, are you okay-” he hesitated, so she took that as her chance and sat up, emerging from the bush.

“Yes, I’m alright, just a few cuts and bruises is all. Are you okay?” Too late, she noticed the scarf had fallen off her face at some point during the fall. ‘Oh well.’ She stood, face-to-face with a very handsome boy, who looked to be around her age. He has long blond hair, which was currently littered with twigs and leaves. She wondered if hers looked similar. ‘Not nearly as cute, I bet.’

The boy just stood there, staring at her. His two friends came up behind him, the one with pink hair punching the blond’s arm and rolling his eyes. “Hello there miss, we should probably introduce ourselves. This idiot here is Wild, I’m Legend, and this is Hyrule.” Upon introducing the last boy, he rested a hand on the brunet’s hair, ruffling it a bit. Hyrule just smiled warmly.

Wild waved nervously. “Um, hi. I’m, uh, really sorry for making you fall out of the tree. Are you sure you’re okay? I’ve got a red potion here, hold on-” He began rummaging through his bag, pulling out a bottle of red potion and holding it out to her.

“Oh, no, it’s okay, I don’t need-” she replied, waving her hands. Hang on, he looks kind of familiar…

He shook his head and shoved the bottle into her hands. “Really, I insist. Consider it compensation, of sorts, I guess. Please?”

Her heart melted as he pulled a puppy dog face. ‘Oh gosh, he’s so cute. How can I say no to that?’ Sighing, she placed the bottle into her pack and smiled at him. “Thank you, Wild.”

He grinned, face practically lighting up, and her heart melted again. Unnoticed by her or Wild, the other two exchanged a knowing look. “Oh! I didn’t catch your name,” Wild exclaimed.

‘Oh crap.’ she hadn’t thought this far ahead. ‘If I tell him my nickname, will he somehow link it to my identity? It’s really only used by family and close friends, but still… Crap he’s waiting for an answer !’ “You can call me Fauna!” She mentally facepalmed. Oh yeah, genius. He’ll never figure that one out.

“Nice to meet you, Fauna!” chorused both Wild and Hyrule.

“Yes, it’s very nice to meet you, Fauna. Now, we need to be going, and I’m sure you have places to be as well. Goodbye!” Legend nodded politely and then turned the other two around, pushing them back the direction they came and ignoring the groans and protests.

‘They were really nice,’ she thought. ‘I can’t help but feel like I've seen Wild somewhere before, though… Oh well, it’ll probably come to me later.’ with that, she turned around as well, making her way back to the castle.

~~~

Bonus Scene:

Wild walks into the ranch, greeting his Mom with a wide grin. “Hi Ma!”

Malon placed her hands on her hips and smiled. “Hello there, Wild. Just what mischief have you been up to this time?”

Legend and Hyrule walk in behind him, and Hyrule excitedly replies. “He met a cute girl named Fauna in the woods today!”

“Wha- Hey I never said she was cute!”

“Oh yeah? They care to explain why you just stood there staring when you finally got a good look at her?” Hyrule raised an eyebrow, grinning.

Wild’s face went red and Malon chuckled. ‘Fauna, you say? Sounds like I may have a bet to collect from Queen Lullaby.’ she thought to herself.

Bonus bonus scene:

Flora snuck back into her room without issue and quickly changed back into her usual attire. She then unpacked her bag, pulling out various plant clippings, the red potion Wild had given her, and the red potion she had packed for herself just in case. She uncorked Wild’s potion and took a swig, then put it and hers in her wardrobe. Flora stuffed the plant clippings in a drawer and sat down at her vanity, brushing through her hair and pulling out all the twigs and leaves.

‘Man, he was super cute. I hope I can see him again later. Wild can’t be that common of a name…’

After she finished cleaning her hair out and disposing of the evidence, she glanced at the clock again. ‘Ah, lunchtime. Good, I’m starving!’

~

As she ate her lunch, surrounded by her family, she continued thinking about where she could have seen the boy before. She must have been smiling, as Fable, who sat on her right, elbowed her with a grin.

“Thinking about a cute boy or something, Flora?”

Flora’s face flushed red, and she stumbled over her words, failing at finding a good excuse in time.

“Ooo, it Is a cute boy! What’s his name? Just how cute is he?” asked Sun from across the table.

“I- I-”

Dusk nudged Sun with her elbow. “Hey, don’t tease her. Just because she’s smiling doesn’t mean it’s about a boy.”

“Oh, you mean like how you smile every time that Lonlon boy arrives with the milk delivery?” Sun asked, grinning.

Dusk’s cheeks flushed pink. “I- Hey, don’t think I haven’t seen you spying on that one knight when the knights are training!”

Lullaby smiled as her older daughters continued to tease each other about the various boys the others have taken notice of, and the younger ones watched with interest. Tetra in particular seemed to be taking notes, likely to be used for teasing later. She glanced at Flora, who was still bright red but seemed to have perked up when the name ‘Lonlon’ was mentioned. ‘Darn it,’ she thought to herself, ‘looks like Malon won this bet.’

[wsome1ushouldntve]

THINGS I WANTED TO SEE IN 4X08 OF KE:

“Oksana.” Like, not her alter ego, but her real name, being privately and reverently uttered by Eve.

Why is Eve still a Polastri? Warrants thorough explanation.

A not-so-shitty characterization of Carolyn Martens. A very uninteresting writing off of a potentially nuanced character. Her ending made her one-dimensionally evil, despite all the emotional build-up that was the majority of her arc with Geraldine and Villanelle.

Eve’s “rebirth” being making peace with both sides of her personality; the one that is “normal” and the one that is embracing of her darker tendencies.

Villanelle working through her trauma. “Are You From Pinner?” did a somewhat inadequate job of this. So did her kidnapping Martin and having a small and civil breakdown. I would have liked to see her tackle all this head-on. Nothing needs to be obvious or voiced-out about it (like that “I remember Bill” left so many things unsaid in the most wordlessly eloquent way possible and was good, but her “Goodbye, old bastard” while throwing darts felt too on-the-surface, even beside Pam)

WHERE IS IRINA WHAT HAPPENED TO HER

THE TWELVE. For all that talk, all that suspense, all that mystery, this may be the single biggest anticlimactic and incomplete sorry excuse of a resolution to such a significant and insidious part of the plot (esp. In S3 and 4)

Pam is seen as a parallel to Oksana. Konstantin offers her a way out, and it is only after making the mistake of killing him does she realize what a gift it is that he’s given her, so she defies Carolyn and leaves. Oksana, in contrast, grows closer to Carolyn across S4 and is ultimately betrayed in the most undignifying way, without confrontation and without grace. I would have liked to see more of Pam and Oksana, certainly more than that arrow removal scene (rare example of good, snappy dialogue and tension in S4) and the darts in the Barn Swallow (boring, lacking in meaning, a dull lull in pacing).

I need! Very much! An at-peace smile from Oksana the moment she realises her efforts have not been in vain. The closest thing we got to security was 1. the look of enrapturing adoration when she saw Eve on that dance floor and 2. the certain reflex of her shielding Eve from the bullets and pushing her to jump. I’m not sure if it was a trick of light or something but I could have sworn that after a bullet missed Eve underwater Oksana doubled her efforts in swimming towards her, trying to block more bullets, knowing she probably had little chance at survival. I would have liked to see just a subtle indicator of her giving Eve the chance to live and being happy about it, completing her arc of discovery of self, peace, and love, whether that be a satisfied smile or even a panicked “go” or “live” that should have happened in the last seconds of life underwater, in contrast to Eve’s yell of torment after resurfacing was animalistic.

Nothing needs to be obvious or even voiced in this. What little excellence I found in this season overall was the blatant choice to not have them voice out their feelings vocally but still make it painfully obvious in their comforting familiarity of that dance they have around each other and with each other. An example would be the “piss kiss,” no words exchanged and no words needed. Another more subtle one would be the sleeping bag scene, especially the bit where Oksana traces Eve’s scar after they’d shared a look when the bothy couple had showed off their kidney replacement marks. They’ve never had explicit sex. They’ve never even properly exchanged “I love you’s” onscreen. Neither is needed, because in their actions and looks and obsession we can decode the underlying tension that finally comes to domestic fruition in the comfort with which they not so much collide but rather tentatively meet in the middle. Refreshing.

Regarding the silence with which Oksana had died, swallowed up by water while Eve had emerged fighting and yelling and breathing, it was a good anti-parallel showcasing character development where once Eve was restrained and Villanelle was flashy and notorious for her violent outbursts, BUT BUT BUT taking the fight out of Villanelle, while adding another dimension to her fluctuating personality, does ABSOLUTELY GODDAMN NOTHING to the development of her personal life/ feelings towards Eve. She should not have died in such a quiet, muted, dismissive way.

Which begs the question: Should either of them have even died? My view on this is that, pushing aside the debate of the “bury your gays” trope or even the tangent on queerbaiting, is that this is quite lazy writing on what could have been a much more meaningful resolution independent of the decision of killing off one of the title characters. The show’s title is Killing Eve. The twist is inherently clever. What I want to reiterate is that what is decidedly NOT CLEVER is the way they executed (no pun intended) Oksana’s death without much dignity, with so many strings left untied.

These are just some very immediate thoughts. Might think of others.

[kkusuka]

Um... could you like maybe do something with Kenma trying to unlock new levels on reader... but like seggsually🙈

Like they start with kissing, then feeling it up, then you know where it goes😏

This is modeled a bit different than anything i’ve ever written but i like it! 

Kenma Kozume x reader

genre: smut 

Cw: fem anatomy, gn! Pronouns, the last part is NSFW

a/n: i love kenma so much, he is a certified pretty boy, and i know that i have other requests but i saw it and just had to write something. 

--------

Start Game → Y or N Y → loading… Proceed to level one. ----

Level One: Hand Holding

Right now, Kenma was seriously regretting listening to Kuroo’s advice. The guy had one girlfriend and all of a sudden he’s telling Kenma that the best first dates are festival dates. He even forced Kenma to get dressed up in a traditional yukata.

Luckily he let you know to wear a kimono before he was embarrassed even further.

But now it was 8:30, everyone and their mother was at the festival and he was lost. There was absolutely no way he would be able to find you by 8:45. He knew that you would be somewhere by the shrine, so at least he could start there.

“Ken- Kenma! Stop! Wait for me!”

Turning he saw your figure pushing through the crowds of children to where he stood at the steps of the shrine. By the time you made it to him, you were panting out an apology, something about leaving your phone at home but he wasn't really listening.

The only thing he could feel was the way your hand had grabbed his amid your explanation. And as you pull him to some random food both, he curls his fingers into yours.

Level Two: Hugs

White day was a nightmare for him, he had a gift, one he was sure you would love, but he was a ball of nerves from the moment he woke up. He shouldn't be this nervous, you've been dating for three months; gifts were a common theme between the two of you.

But today, it was just him. There was no exchange, you won't give him anything. It’s all on him and he was panicking. He knew that you would love anything he gave, it was just your personality, but that didn't stop him from thinking you would throw it back in his face and laugh.

Still, he met you on the steps in the front of the school. Manga and sweets wrapped up, hiding behind his back as you scurried to meet him where he stood.

“I-uh got these for you. Happy white day y/n”

You just looked at him for a second, his fear creeping into his throat before you threw yourself into his unexpecting arms. Still holding his gifts, he wrapped his arms around your waist tucking his head on your shoulder.

“I love them, Ken. thank you.”

Level three: Kiss on the Cheek

Cat cafes have a special place in the blonde boy's heart. Actually, cat cafes with you have his whole heart. Of course, there was one downside to these dates.

The calico cat that had been rubbing along your legs the entire time. The same cat you let snuggle on your thighs, a cat he was vehemently jealous of. He wanted you to kiss him all over his head and tell him how pretty his eyes were.

Finally, he watched as the cat walked over to their food bowl and your attention was all back on him. Finishing your food and splitting the check, you both made your way out of the cafe to a park bench overseeing a small pond.

“You really liked that one cat didn’t you?”

“Aw Ken! Are you jealous!”

“No”

Ignoring your soft giggle, he focused on the hand that pulled his cheek into two soft lips. Settling there for a second, you pulled away rubbing another small circle on his opposite cheek.

Level four: Butterfly Kisses

The national qualifiers are always the most suspenseful games of the year. The entire game against Nohebi is a nail-biter, not a single moment went by that you were sitting comfortably.

So by the time the final set ended you were courtside ready for the game to finally end. When it finally did, with Nekoma in favor, you hopped over the makeshift gate right into his arms.

Holding him tight you lifted his head and placed your arms around his neck pulling your lips to his. Feeling him smiling into the kiss you pulled back and began to pepper small pecks between little giggles and congratulatory terms.

“I’m going to have to win a whole lot more just for that to happen.”

Level five: Accidental Grope

Every school festival always has a haunted house, and this year just happens to be languages above the rest. And he can't say no to you, so now he’s walking through a portion of the room that's supposed to be a graveyard.

They even had smoke machines.

He was about to tell you something he can't remember until someone jumped from a surprisingly well-made gravestone. And before he could think his hand was reaching out to grab onto you.

Your arm was after then he remembered, much squishier and has a very rhythmic up and down movement. He slowly turned to see his hand enveloping one of your...boobs. Oh god.

“I-i’m sorry! I didn't mean to-”

“Ken! I-it’s ok, you don't mean to”

Throughout his entire apology, his hand remained until you heard another pair of feet approaching, pulling away you walked the rest of the event hand-in-hand.

Final level: Making Love

Kenma loved peppering kisses along the nape of your neck, so it was fitting he did so as he bottoms out in your dripping hole. Pressing his hips to flush against yours, moving his lips to meet yours in a sloppy kiss.

Pulling your thighs to wrap around his waist as he began, returning to leaving kisses along your jaw.

“You feel so, so good, kitten” he murmured as he hit a spongy spot in your depths. Taking a nipple in his mouth, he gave it a long suck as a hand reached down to rub around your clit.

“Ken- please faster, please, please go faster Ken!” Well, he can never say no to you anyway, pulling your legs to your chest pounding into your pussy. Feeling your high approach, you pulled your body up to his chest as you locked his lips in another kiss.

“You-you can cum please kitten.”

Following his command you came apart on his cock, he followed soon after releasing himself onto your stomach before collapsing onto you.

“I love you, Ken”

“I love you too, Y/n”

GAME OVER

WINNER

[ursaminortarot]

Spiritual Gifts - part one

What are your spiritual gifts?

Part 2 will be about how you can develop them. 

Piles to choose from: 1 - Bat 2 - Turtle 3 - Earthworm 4 - Fish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These readings are done for a general audience and therefore are not applicable to everyone. I also can’t go in very in-depth because the specifics of everyone’s life and situation are different. If you would like a personalized, in-depth reading consider purchasing one from my shop.

My Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/UrsaMinorTarot

CashApp: @UrsaMinorTarot

Tomorrow is the last day that you can get 30% off any reading by using the code UMT100. Or by following this link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/UrsaMinorTarot?coupon=UMT10.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Decks Used: Modern Witch Tarot, Wild Unknown Tarot, The Lightseer’s Tarot, Earthbound Oracle, Wild Unknown Oracle]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 - Bat

The bat talks about the inevitable end of a cycle, rebirth, and letting go of past issues. Right away this tells me that you are someone who is constantly changing and evolving, but you may have difficulty letting go of situations or people that haven’t done the work to grow with you. Bats are also very misunderstood animals, so people probably never see the real you, just the facade you want them to see.

7 of Swords r, The Devil, 3 of Swords, Travel 4 of Pentacles, Page of Pentacles r, 9 of Swords r, Air The Hermit r, The Wheel, 4 of Swords r, Simplicity Queen of Wands, Knight of Swords, 9 of Pentacles, Vision

You are very intune with the energy of those around you, some would call you an empath. Like many empaths, you struggle with attracting energy vampires, intentionally or unintentionally you take on other peoples’ heaviness and burdens. Which leaves them feeling a little bit lighter after being in your presence, but weighs you down in exchange. This has probably left you exhausted by other people and led you to isolate yourself from the outside world. You may feel stagnant in your life as you don’t have much else to give to yourself and your own dreams and ambitions.

I also get the impression that you may have visions come to you in the form of dreams that you have a hard time deciphering or remembering.

You shine very brightly and have an incredibly magnetic energy.

On the back of the decks: Wheel of fortune r, The Hanged Man r, The Hierophant, Earth

To move out of this stagnant place you need help focusing and grounding your energy. It may be beneficial for you to seek out the guidance of a mentor or to begin doing some kind meditation/developing a daily ritual.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2 - Turtle

Since you were drawn to the turtle, I’m already assuming you’re a fairly grounded individual. As well as, that you are someone with strong ties to your family and ancestors (if you do ancestor work). You are probably very wise and have a natural story-teller.

Page of Cups, The Empress, 10 of Pentacles, Air The Moon r, King of Wands r, Father of Wands, Earth 4 of Pentacles, The Moon, The High Priestess r, Toxic Page of Pentacles, 9 of Cups, 5 of Wands r, Home

Yeah, I was right, you are very grounded, even if you don’t see yourself that way. If you were to take a step back and compare yourself to those around you, you’d probably find that you’re the only one who sees things how they really are. You’re also naturally able to keep calm in a crisis, while everyone else is panicking you’re formulating a plan on how to fix it and bring things back down to a reasonable level. Now that might not sound like a spiritual gift, but I assure you it is. There’s a reason why so many people have strong a strong focus on meditation and grounding techniques as a part of their spiritual practices. That’s a step you don’t have to take or don’t have to take very often, so if you were to delve deeper into your spirituality you’d have a slight advantage and be able to progress a little bit more quickly than some of your peers. I also pick up on a dreamy quality to you, like you can have your head up in the clouds but are still able to have your feet firmly planted on the ground. It’s very interesting to see that balance/duality.

Moving on to something that’s a little more obvious as a gift, you have an innate ability to see the shadows in people and bring them to light. There are people who definitely don’t appreciate it, some just don’t want to recognize or deal with their “dark side”. Shadows aren’t necessarily “dark” or “bad”, just the aspects of ourselves we repress and don’t want anyone to see. I feel like you’re able to just look at a person and see everything that they are, you might not even have to talk to or engage with them in any way.

Also, I mentioned ancestor work earlier, if you don’t do that or aren’t connected to your culture, I encourage you to do some research. It might be something very beneficial to you.  

On the back of the decks: 2 of Pentacles, Page of Swords, 2 of Cups r, Sol

Your ability to see the world in a way that most don’t can make it difficult for you to form new relationships with people, whether that’s platonic or romantic. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 - Earthworm The earthworm describes the feeling of being in a new environment and not knowing how to navigate it. You may be feeling like a fish out of water right now in some aspects of your life, but stay strong that feeling won’t last forever.

The Devil, The Star, The Empress, Toxic 4 of Wands, Ace of Pentacles, The Sun, Time Ace of Cups r, King of Pentacles, Ace of Wands r, Labour The World, Page of Swords, The Fool r, Protect

You have a very intensely bright energy to you. You are able to shine a light on everyone around you and bring out the best in them. There are people who try to leech off of that light and are almost parasitic in their approach to you. Try your best to filter these people out, because they aren’t deserving of your time and energy. There are people out there that will thrive in your presence in the best possible ways and will pay it forward, probably in the form of service to the wider community. As nice as that sounds, above all you need to be mindful of your own well-being and how much energy you put towards the betterment of others. Even the well-meaning ones will take as much as you're willing to give, so having and asserting boundaries is a highly important thing for you to do. And remember, you don’t have to give any of your energy to anyone if you don’t want to, it’s yours to do what you want with.  

On the back of the decks: 7 of Cups r, The Magician, 2 of Pentacle, Abundance

This is reinforcing the fact that you need to be discerning with who you invest in. Don’t let others take advantage of you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 - Fish

The fish talks about feeling restless and unfocused. Are you someone who’s constantly on the move? Why is this? It’s okay to slow down and take a break sometimes. The world’s not going to implode because you took a nap. Alternatively, are you feeling pinned down and that’s what’s resulting in this restless feeling?

The Emperor r, Ace of Cups r, The Devil, Toxic 9 of Cups r, 5 of Pentacles r, 10 of Pentacles r, Transformation Judgment r, 8 of Cups r, 3 of Wands, Luna Queen of Pentacles r, 10 of Wands r, 2 of Pentacles r, Sol 10 of Cups, Knight of Wands r, Wheel of Fortune r, Home

So, out of the gate, all of your tarot cards are reversed with the exceptions of the Devil, 3 of Wands and 10 of Cups. Which indicates to me that there’s something relating to your family and work (specifically I’m hearing “family business”, but that won’t apply to everybody) that are cutting you off from your gifts altogether.

This reading doesn’t seem to reveal what your gifts are, but rather it’s relaying the message that before anything else you need to find balance and peace within yourself. You need to free yourself from whatever situation or mindset in your life that is all consuming. It’s burning you out and keeping you having the time to get to know yourself. Which in turn will hinder any spiritual growth you’re hoping to achieve.  

On the back of the decks: The High Priestess r, The Chariot, The Son of Cups r, Life

This is reiterating the same message. You need to have the freedom to be yourself before you’ll be ready to plant any seeds or nurture your spiritual being.

[chocolatte-and-despair]

Death Wish - Yandere!DreamXD x GN!Reader

The day was beautiful, yet what was happening right now was not that beautiful. A blood war waged, and only now did it end. Many people died, many people were harmed. You were one of the few people who had come out of this unscathed. And not many were surprised by that. Everyone knew that you had god's blessing.

Nobody knew why, but God loved you. Loved you more than anything and wouldn't allow for anyone or anything to end up causing you harm. Nobody even dared to lay hands on you, knowing that they would need to fight god to win against you.

The worst part was that you yourself never wished for this blessing from god. You never wished to be any different from anyone else. You simply wanted to be yourself. To earn your own name. Yet, was that possible now, when you were known as the blessed one?

Even now, in this bloody war, you had received no injuries. A pitiful look appeared on your face, as you looked to your side to the men that fought by your side. They groaned in pain, helping each other as much as possible.

A part of you was jealous. What did it mean to work in a team? What did it mean to be your own person? To feel pain? To feel what losing means? You wished you could experience all of that, yet the blessing didn't allow that.

Was that a blessing, or more like a curse? You weren't so sure anymore. It started to resemble a curse more and more every single day and you hated it. Hated it more than anything else in this world.

"My dear... you look down. Must I kill someone for upsetting you?" The godly voice spoke from behind you, leaving a shiver running down your back.

With a slow sigh, you turned around, a weak smile on your face, as you bowed down before the god, the man that cursed you. The man that ruined your life with his endless obsession.

"Of course not, my god. I am pleased with our victory. I just... feel guilt for my men have been injured and I... have not experienced what they have, my god." You replied, keeping your tone curt and cold.

Many might feel jealousy from the gift that you had, but you hated it. You would happily give this gift up. You would happily end up dying on the battlefield, fighting for your country and the things you believe in.

You would rather die a hero than live like the coward that your god is forcing you to be.

"... I see. If I heal everyone, would you give me your sweet, angelic smile, my dearest follower?" The god asked as you looked at him hopeful.

As much as you hated begging for help, you knew that your men needed it. And if putting your pride to the side was going to get them well, and bring some back to life, you would do it. This is the only reason why you still haven't taken your own life, even if this is torture.

"My God, I beg of you, help my men and I will do whatever you wish me to do," You said, getting on one knee and taking the hand of the god, placing a gentle kiss on the arm given to you. The god seemed pleased.

"... Yes, my dear, I will grant your wish. How could I not, when my most loyal follower asks for it. But remember, that you will pay the price of this yourself." The god finally spoke.

It felt like time froze up, and before you knew what was happening, you saw the wounds of your men slowly heal up, the dead corpses rising to life with their wounds healed. A miracle had happened.

A miracle that you will have to pay for with your own body.

"... I'm grateful, my God. Thank you so much" You replied, putting on a forced smile, as the god looked at you, pleased. Even if you forced a smile, he liked it. He liked feeling like he could help you. Liked feeling like you owed him.

"Of course, my dear. I would do anything to please my most loyal follower... my muse... my dearest." The god replied, caressing your cheek.

You felt disgusted by the touch. These were the same arms that slew so many of the people that you loved. The arms that were used to take everything that you had. The arms that cursed you. Those damned arms you hated so much.

"... My dear, your thoughts are dark yet again. It saddens me to see such ungratefulness. Perhaps I should teach you a lesson?" The god asked, a displeased tone clear in his voice.

You panicked. You should have kept your thoughts to yourself when you were alone. But were you truly ever alone with his obsessive and intrusive need to always look after you?

"Please, my God, I will be better... I'm sorry, for I have sinned. I will never sin again, so please, spare me, my god.." You replied as the god looked at you, a warm look on his face.

"My dearest... I will spare you, of course. I will always spare you, for my heart could never allow me to hurt you... But I wish that you would only hold love for me in your heart, not hatred" The god spoke, his tone clearly sad.

"I know, you must be still angry at me for killing your loved ones but they were holding you back, my dearest" The god spoke, his words cruel, truly painful.

"Your god knows you best... Your god loves you the most, so please, trust me a little bit more. I know what is best for you" The more the god spoke, the more you wished that he would stop. That he would finally allow you to rest. To die.

"... Yes, my god. I apologize, my God" You replied, and that seemed to please the god before you. It disgusted you how much you had to hold yourself back.

"You're being so good. I will reward you, so tell me, my dear. What is your deepest wish? I will make it come true, in exchange for your love.." The god said as he took a lock of your hair.

And for the first time in a long time, you gave the god a true, yet cold smile, as the words escaped from your mouth. "Relieve me from this curse. Kill me, my god."

^^^

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[jinx-jade]

April Angst and Fluff gift exchange

Angst-Prompt-2 “you remember?” “Of course I remember.”

I took a line of the song mercy out of context.

This is the result.

Part 1 of Mercy

for @celestial-void-the-3rd

______________________

The spotted vigilante looked around numbly.

There’s fire everywhere.

Injured, dead, frightened, sobbing, and mourning civilians of all ages were scattered amongst the rubble.

Buildings, sidewalks, and roads were broken, falling apart, and heavily damaged.

Yet the spotted vigilante was simply numb.

Far too used to seeing this level of destruction and death.

There was only a small difference between this and an akuma attack.

There is no miraculous cure.

The cure was only responsible for removing any trace that a miraculi was involved.

The only reason it reversed deaths, healed the injured, and restored the surrounding areas was because a miraculi had caused it in one way or another.

This?

This time the deaths are supposed to be permanent.

This time the destruction is supposed to stay.

Marinette looked at the other heroes, vigilantes, and magic users.

They all seem stiff.

Each of them seemed to have carefully placed a blank mask of neutrality on their features.

The only reason Marinette could even read their emotions was due to her time as Ladybug during Hawkmoth’s terror.

That thought alone strikes a bitter cord.

Marinette is not Ladybug, hero of Paris.

Not anymore at least.

She is Miracle, a mage, and a member of the Justice League.

No one in the League knows that she has the miraculi.

Marinette plans that no one ever will know that she has the miraculi in her possession until she gives up her title.

Not her friends, Dick, Babs, Jason, Cass, Tim, and Damian.

Not her family, Tom, and Sabine.

Not even her Fiancé, Jon.

Was it really worth keeping her title as guardian such a big secret when she can help?

Sure the miraculous cure won’t work, but the guardians had created a spell with the same effect.

Looking around again, Marinette clenches her hands in thought.

The spell requires four things.

The first, guardian blood to be used to draw the mark.

The second, read the incantation in the guardian’s tongue.

The third, read the incantation in your love’s tongue, be it, platonic love or romantic love.

The fourth, an unknown price.

Marinette had memorized this spell for a rainy day.

She never thought using it would be a real possibility, and she doesn’t know its price.

Taking a deep breath Marinette forced her body to relax.

Marinette moved from the spot she had been standing still in, effectively gaining the other JL members’ attention with the movement.

As Marinette walked with the attention on her, she bent down and picked up a discarded blade that probably belonged to one of the bats.

Marinette continued walking as she twirled the blade in her hands, arriving at the desired area.

She knelt down on an area of ground that was mainly clear, or at the very least, clear enough to draw the mark.

With all the destruction, crackling fire, and crumbling buildings, Marinette thought it would be too loud for herself to focus, yet at this moment, it was eerily silent.

Marinette didn’t look up from the ground, knowing that her resolve might break if she dared to look at the ones she cared for.

Taking in a deep breath Marinette quickly sliced a line from the crease of her elbow to the inner side of her writs.

She could hear the others question what she was doing but she ignored it as she let the blood run down to her hand.

Marinette began by drawing the outer circle of the mark before drawing the inner details, kneeling on the outside of the mark while her blood continued to run down her arm and into the symbols.

She began the incantation in the guardian’s tongue.

“Gnimusnoc lla eht ria edisni ym sgnul,” Marinette could feel her chest tighten with this line.

“Gnippir lla eht niks morf ffo ym senob,” Her skin began to burn as she had to keep herself from hissing out in pain.

“M’i deraperp ot ecifircas ym efil,” She could feel her eyes stinging, with tears or pain, she’s not sure. All Marinette could do was close her eyes tightly.

“I dluow yldalg od ti eciwt,” Marinette could vaguely hear someone call out to stop her.

Most likely one of the magic users since the guardian’s tongue was the same as a normal magic user's spells.

Marinette clenched her eyes a bit tighter.

Her love’s tough is English.

They would all know exactly what she’s saying.

Marinette opened her eyes when she felt Pollen’s magic being used.

She began to speak again, under the assumption that everyone who could possibly stop her is currently paralyzed.

“Consuming all the air inside my lungs,” she hissed out in pain.

“Ripping all the skin from off my bones,” Marinette can see how pale her skin is now, resembling porcelain in both color and warmth.

“I’m prepared to sacrifice my life,” She could see the marks of the Grand Guardian appear on herself. Her chest felt as it was being crushed under one of the buildings

“I would gladly do it twice” Marinette states, as she wabbled on her knees.

Marinette finally looked up, eyes meeting the eyes of her Fiancé, her love, before completely collapses, her head hitting the ground as she whispers a plea to any deity, spirit, fate, or balance that would listen. “Please have mercy on them.”

Marinette felt Pollen’s magic snap as someone finally broke through, the bee kwami not bothering to rebuild the spell.

She vaguely felt someone pick her up and hold her to their chest.

Panicked shouts, whispers, and sobs could be heard.

A flood of light appeared so bright that she could see it without opening her eyes.

With that, Marinette let her consciousness fade into darkness as she released the title of Grand Guardian to her successors.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Marinette gasped awake.

Her head was pounding.

What happened?

Oh.

That’s right.

She had used her life to cast a spell with the same properties as the miraculous cure.

Wait.

She remembered?

Of course, she remembered.

Why would anything she did go smoothly?

Looking around Marinette was met with the people of her temple and her successors.

“What’s going on?” Marinette questioned.

“We felt you transfer your title but something wasn’t right,” Manon said as she helped her sit up.

“So what happened?” Marinette questioned once again.

“The balance has laid claim to you, high priestess. While those you choose to succeed you now have your old title, you have gained a new” One of the elders answered.

Marinette let out a tired sigh.

"I am honored by the Balance,” Marinette claimed, resigning herself to her fate.

[strawberrylemonz]

A Lovely Encounter

Part 5

Part 6 [CURRENT]

Part 7

(DT: @applepie1000 @petrichormeraki @jump-in-the-cadillac )

------------

“I’ll be okay, they’re already waiting for me in the Hub.”

“What if I just walk you to-”

“Grian, I’ll be okay!”

Tommy huffed for the fifth time in a row as Grian tried to follow him around. Chat was fawning over Grian’s protectiveness over Tommy, something that annoyed the younger boy big time. Kristin, happily settle in her new house, laughed as Tommy griped at his brother. Finally feeling tired from all the laughing, put a hand on Grian’s arm as she messed with Tommy’s hair.

“Let Tommy be on his way. You don’t want him to deal with angry ladies, trust me.”

Grateful, Tommy ducked under Grian’s hand and thanked Kristin. Before Grian could utter another word, he ran towards the Hub portal. Opening his inventory, he made sure that he had everything he needed. Letting out a sigh of relief, he climbed into the portal without a single thought. Stepping out into the portal station, Tommy couldn’t help but smile as the chattering of other people filled the air. Humming a familiar tune, the made his way to the center. He felt a light, cold hand grab his shoulder, squeezing it slightly. Peering over, he saw one of the individual spirits, swaggerrsouls_, peering down to him while floating above everyone else. Giving a blank smile, the spirit pointed behind Tommy.

“The girls are approaching from behind” 

Nodding a thanks to the spirit, he turned around, smiling. He let out a laugh as Drista groaned, playfully stomping her foot. Lani just laughed as she pushed Drista and waved at Tommy. Drista pulled the girl back and ran up to Tommy, giving him a nudge.

“How dare you catch us before we could jumpscare you.”

“You can’t scare me, I’m fucking badass. Now, let’s go see Tubbo.”

Lani happily interjected as soon as those words left Tommy’s mouth. 

“Oh! About my brother, he kinda, maybe, doesn’t know you’re coming.”

“What?!”

Panic settled into Tommy’s stomach. Tubbo didn’t know he was coming? What was going to happen? Would Tubbo turn him away? Yell at him? Did he not want to see him?

“Don’t worry! You’re a surprise! He’s been doing well, but he’s been missing you very much! Drista and I figured that you would surprise him with a visit?”

Huffing, Tommy crossed his arms with annoyance. Sighing, he nodded his head at the girls, who shared a high five.

“Just let me know this shit beforehand. Nearly panicked while working myself up to greeting him upon entering. Now I’ve gotta quickly work myself up to surprising him.”

As the girls apologized, waving off the boy, the pulled him over to a portal. Rolling his eyes, he peered up at the sign of the portal.

Stampy’s Lovely World

Lovely? Tommy couldn’t help but smile at that. Out of everyone he knew, Tubbo was one of the few that deserved to thrive in a peaceful place. Nearly toppling over as he was pulled forward by the eager girls, Tommy entered the portal to the new world.

--------

It truly was lovely. After exchanging a nervously polite greeting to the admin, Stampy, who was getting ready to board his hot air balloon, he set off with the girls as they walked through the magnificent world. He was honestly blown away with the creativity, love, care and dedication put in it all. Going through the amazing, colorful builds, the girls slowed down as they approached a cozy section, one that was easy on the eyes after all the color they walked through. Three cottages with different designs sat peacefully by each other. Bees were buzzing around in peace, pollinating the random flowers strewn around the ground. A small pond full of fish sat in between the center of the three cottages, each fish swimming in peace. Lani nodded before turning to the other two.

“Okay, here’s the plan, so listen up. I’ll go and get Tubbo and blindfold him, telling him that Drista and I got him a gift. Meanwhile, Drista, you hide Tommy in the present box we got-”

“Wait, I’m gonna be in a fucking box-”

“-and wait until I bring him over. Then, most likely confused by the size of the box, my brother will open it cautiously. Then, BAM!!! TOMMY’S HERE!!!”

“Sounds good to me!”

“Use a knife to get him to move faster.”

Lani laughed before bidding adieu, heading towards one of the houses. Once she was out of sight, Drista pulled a nervous Tommy over towards the back of the houses.

“Alright, get in the box, nerd.”

--------

The box was tiring to stand in for Tommy. Why couldn’t the girls pick a wider box? At least, then, he could lay down while he waited. Doing his best not to make a single noise or move that could give him away, Tommy tried to entertain himself as he stood there, ignoring the way his knees began to buckle. Just as he was about to groan, a familiar voice caused him to freeze.

“Where are you taking me? If you push me into the pond, Lani, I will pull you in with me.”

“I’m not pushing you in the pond! Stop being so paranoid!”

Tommy sucked in a nervous breath as he heard the footsteps stop. After a few seconds, the speaking began.

“A box?”

“Open it! Your present is inside!”

“It’s the best gift you’ll ever receive, guaranteed. Lani and I really popped off this time.”

“Really? Even better than the-”

“Absolutely, even better than the bees.”

Tommy prepared himself as he heard the wrapping paper being torn away. He heard nervous laughing as the box was being opened. A beam of sunlight caused him to shield his face from being blinded. Once he adjusted, he put down his hand, coming face to face with Tubbo, who looked as if he was seeing a ghost. Giving a nervous chuckle, Tommy opened his arms with hesitation.

“Hey, Tub- OOF”

Tommy didn’t even get to finish as he fell back, falling to the ground. Propping himself up with one arm, he peered down at the sobbing mess in his arms. His sobbing mess of a best friend. His Tubbo. Feeling the tears well up in his own eyes, Tommy engulfed Tubbo in a firm, desperate hug. Together, the two boys embraced each other in relieved tears as Drista and Lani shared a fist bump, smiling brightly at the scene before them.

“We’re awesome”

“Oh, absolutely, no questioning it”

--------

“So the same portal we both fell in took us to different servers? That’s strange”

“Totally. Need some help with that honey?”

The girls had left to play mini games much earlier, leaving the two boys to catch up in peace. They filled each other in with that they had been up to prior to that day. Tubbo was quite shocked to see that Tommy was much calmer than he remembered, more mellow. He was even more shocked to find out about his family. 

“What? You have another brother? And a mother?”

“I know, right? Nearly had a breakdown about Grian. Finding Kristin was hilarious, though.”

The two boys exchanged stories and adventures with each other, not wanted to leave anything out from their time spent apart. They didn’t even notice when the girls came back, announcing that it was time for Tommy to head back.

“I swear, he’s overreacting! I mean, I know why he’s adding a curfew, but I’m an adult now!”

The girls teased Tommy about his brother, who, according to him, was reading too much into Tommy spending too much time outside of the server. As annoyed as he was at it, Tommy understood his reasonings. Kristin hasn’t been told the whole story, but he just knew that she’d be the same way once she found out about what he’s gone through. Holding onto Tubbo’s hand, the four of them headed towards the portal to Hub. Once they arrived, Tommy let out a shaky breath as he squeezed his best friend’s hand.

“I’ll be back, okay? Not only do I need to bless you lot with my presence, I’ve gotta take proper measurements to make you guys your outfits for the gala. VIP and shit, that’s what you guys are! Custom made, just for you. Be safe, I’ll see you guys soon.”

Drista was the first to throw herself in for a hug. But, as predicted, she was also the first to pull away after Tommy hugged back for more than two seconds. Giving him a soft punch, she reminded him to pick a good color for her. Lani was next to embrace him, thanking him for taking the time to come to the server. Letting him know that she trusted his choices regarding her outfit, she let go with a smile. Tubbo didn’t even get the chance to move in for a hug, mainly due to Tommy wordlessly pulling him into one. The two stayed like that for a while, holding each other, scared to let go. As he pulled away, however, Tommy pulled something out of his inventory. Smiling at Tubbo, he gently placed it into his hand. 

“I’ll see you soon, Tubbo. Be safe.”

The three watched, waved, as Tommy disappeared through the portal. Peering down, Tubbo examined the gift. It was a replica of the green bandana from the Dream SMP. The only difference, however, was the little bees sewn on the end of it. Holding it close, Tubbo smiled as he walked back home, his sister and sister figure following behind, laughing amongst themselves.

Everything would be okay.

--------

Too much in a good mood to be bothered, Tommy paid no mind to the people who pushed past him in the Hub. Humming to himself, he almost missed the sound of soft whimpering. Stopping in his tracks, he listened closely, hearing it again. Frowning, he followed the noise to the source.

It was a small child, a little girl. She was a bit scuffled and was crying in front of a dark colored portal. Frowning, he looked up to see the name of the portal that she appeared to have come out of.  

2b2t

He had heard tales of the server from Phil, who spoke of the terrors that the anarchist server held. Blood running cold, he carefully bent down in front of the girl, carefully watching his tone. 

“Are you alright?”

She seemed frightened and hurt, reeling back from him and into the solid blocks of the portal. Doing his best not to scare her off, he offered a kind smile and a flower, to which she accepted after a moments hesitation. Seeing this as a promising sign, he tried again.

“Are you alright?”

The girl, who appeared to be no older than two, shook her head. Ignoring her own small injuries, she held up a torn stuffed bear. The sound of her small, soft, raspy voice caught him off guard.

“Broken...”

Humming, he looked around the crowd, searching for anyone who may have been looking for a child. Frowning, he bent back down to the child, who was looking at him with newfound hope. 

“Where’s your parent’s? Maybe they can fix up your bear for you. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

The young girl looked down at her scraped hands. Shaking her head, she Tommy’s pointed gaze to the 2b2t portal beside her. Her small voice spoke up, breaking the young adult’s heart.

“Broken”

[serendipitous-posts]

Sacrifice you for nothing

Tubbo and Ranboo get a history lesson

title from Ain’t No Crying by Derivakat

"Damn" Tubbo says, staring up at the ceiling. "That chandelier really is fighting you every step of the way, huh?"

"And it's winning" Ranboo adds.

Foolish, hanging from the ceiling as he fixes the corner piece, glares down at him. "It is not winning" he hisses "I won't let it win." That declaration would have been a lot more solid had he not squeaked as the chandelier rocked dangerously.

If that fell and broke he would actually lose it.

Tubbo has no mercy for him. "You must hate that chandelier right now" he mocks "must be your least favourite thing in the world."

 "Nah" Foolish grips a small chunk of gold carefully in his teeth to avoid breaking it "that would be cults" he mumbles. There's a brief bit of quiet below and then;

 "Oh yeah, I heard that the Eggpire wrecked your buildings or something."

 Chandelier finally fixed (for now) Foolish drops to the floor, a fall that would have shattered anyone elses ankles but just leaves him slightly winded. "Nah" he says "I've run into cults before; one's way worse than this one."

 "Worse?!" Ranboo exclaims "worse than the parasitic chicken embryo?!"

 "Far worse" Foolish confirms body language completely relaxed despite such a dark topic

 (but outside the seas begin to froth and bubbles, rapids forming and pushing and pulling, crashing against teeth sharp rocks and punching away at the cliffs surrounding it.)

 "they seem to keep popping up wherever I go. I-

 (hate them hates them with everything he is and everything he is supposed to be divine blood in his body but he can't save them can't protect everyone can't heal everything some things can't be reversed)

 "really don't like them. They suck."

(I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm so so sorry, I can take your broken pieces and stitch them back, back together and it won't be the same but it will be similar and that is all I can give you)

 (the totem in Ranboo's back pocket begins to burn)

 "I'll say" Tubbo agrees, then, with childlike curiosity and teenage macabre "which one would would you say is the worst?"

  Foolish falls still.

(the sea falls still. the totems stop burning.)

 (it is somehow worse)

 "Probably the one made for me" he says at last.

 The story goes like this; there's a village that prays to him daily. It's not that uncommon really; he's the God of the Ocean and the Undead. People pray to him for safe passage on the seas or to help them find a totem.

 But the people in this village are- to put it bluntly- really fucking annoying.

 It's not uncommon for people without totems to pray to him for hours on end, begging him to revive their loved ones, but these guys have turned it into an art form, any and all hours of the day, banging around in his head.

 And when words don't work, they turn to physical ways to show their devotion to their God. 

 Silly little mortals, trying to gain his favour with dead animals and trinkets, trying to gain his favour. He already gave them a way to cheat death, all they have to do is grab a totem. Why do they want another?

 They have all they need to survive. He painstakingly carved those totems. He will not give too much of himself.

 (lord foolish please my mother is gone i want her back lord foolish you can bring my husband back lord foolish fix this fix her i know you can)

 So he ignores the animal sacrifices and the pretty trinkets offered to him in exchange for reviving a daughter, a son, a wife, a husband. He cannot revive the long dead, he learned that a long time ago.

 The only real bearable one in the village is the child, and he doesn't even think the child knows what he is the God of, really, which is odd considering the inordinate amount of statues in the town. Whenever the child prays to Foolish, it's never about a dead loved one or the sea, it's always about what the child did that day. Foolish feels more like a diary than a God in those moments.

 And at least that's interesting

 (mister foolish i learned how to spell flower the other day f-l-o-u-u-e-r mister foolish i saw a dead cat on the side of the road the other day)

 (mister foolish are you ever lonely)

 The humans grow more and more frustrated with his complete and utter radio silence, and while he's out their festivals to him grow more and more complex, the animals growing bigger, rarer, more impressive.

 (i offer you this ender dragon egg this elytra this nether star this emerald ore this music disc)

 He's not gonna lie; the person who built that beautiful cottage had him for a solid minute.

 But he's not really paying attention to any of that; he's not the only God to have festivals and sacrifices in his name. Definitely not gonna be the last.

 (what do we have to do to bring back our loved ones?)

 He's just happy to build.

 Bargaining is a stage of grief, but so is acceptance, and they must learn to accept this.

 (except their not accepting it, the town is just growing angrier, more desperate, going bigger and bigger, hunting animals around them to extinction.)

 The first time they kill a human, he's pretty sure it's an accident. An old man, long past his time, probably just died from shock or disease.

 They put his body on the altar and offer him up to him, not to revive but as a sacrifice. He arrives, cloaked in illusions as thick as the fog around the town. He still sees Death though, watching sedately from where she's sitting on the wall, her angel beside her.

 They're gone in the next moment.

 The town never buries the old man, keeps him on the altar, and, after three days, Foolish takes him, takes him far away to an old field and buries him there.

 (the leader of the town finds the missing body and smiles. their god has accepted their gift)

 He hopes it's a one time thing

 (because what did they do to that man how could they these humans these ants small and painfully easy to kill but flocking together working together how could they turn on one of their own)

 (because what would he do then?)

 (after the man disappears from the altar, the child prays to him again, telling him the man's name, and how he once stopped the child from getting a rash from poisonous flowers. he liked violets the child tells him)

 (maybe the child really does know what he's the god of. maybe the child's just lonely.)

 He doesn't know what exactly triggered it. Maybe they saw the child trying to make conversation with a God instead of praying to one. Maybe the child, in the way all children are, said something controversial, maybe about the man who was left on the altar to rot.

 Maybe, maybe, maybe.

 He isn't there when the child is dragged out onto the streets, and dumped at the feet of the altar in front of the whole town, trembling and shaking. And the child is a child but is no fool, has seen the sacrifices has seen what has happened, and does what any scared child will do-try to run.

 And at the same time the child tried to back away, the leader swung his sword, and the whole town watched as the child screamed, eyes bloodied and slashed from the blade. 

 (he had been aiming for the neck)

 (not a fighter, that leader)

 "A life for a life!" The leader exclaimed and swung again.

 (the child collapsed on the floor and the crowd pressed in, eager to watch as they choked and gagged on the blood spilling out of their torn open throat, arms scrabbling into the ground like a beetle like a cockroach like an ant whose colony had turned on it)

 And- and then-

 And at the same time the child tried to back away and the leader swung his sword, the child had had one last panicked, desperate thought.

 (mister foolish, they're gonna kill me)

 And at the same time-

 And at the same time the leader slit the child's throat, a golden clawed hand grabbed him by his.

 "So yeah" Foolish says. "Cults are, like, the worst."

 Ranboo and Tubbo continue to stare at him. "Uh" Ranboo says, then promptly stops talking.

 "Did you . . kill them?" 

 He nods, bouncing on his feet a little. "Yeah" he smiles "good times."

 The two teenagers both look like they don't know what to do with that.

 "Well, at least they deserved it" Tubbo offers up attentively, and Ranboo nods

 "Can't believe they executed a child. Nobody deserves to die like that" Ranboo mutters and Tubbo winces beside him.

 "Y-yeah" Tubbo agrees nervously, twining his hands together "that poor kid. Hope it was peaceful."

 Foolish blinks at them. "Wait, what?" Then he replays their entire conversation and laughs.

 "Laughing at a kid's death" Ranboo notes, before turning to Tubbo "why are we letting him near Michael again."

 "No, no" Foolish waves his hands "you misunderstood me; the child didn't die."

 "You guys do remember I'm the God of Undying, right?" He raises an eyebrow at them both. "I healed the kid's neck wound right up." Ranboo just blinks at him in that slightly unsettling way that only an enderman can do.

 "I thought you didn't revive people personally."

 Foolish glances outside, past the both of them. "This was different" he says "this was-"

 (my fault my fault i turned a blind eye i could have stopped this sooner you choked and gagged and cried out for anyone to save you but in the end the motivation for your murder had to step in.)

 "-an exception."

 "Good for you!" Tubbo cheers, shooting his hands in the air vehemently "the whole stinking town is gone and you and the child lived!"

 Foolish makes a noise in the back of his throat. "Except the other towns had heard about the towns rituals. And it began to spread."

 Tubbo's hands drop. "Oh."

 "Yeah" he agrees "oh. But the worst part was the damage done to the child."

 "Let me guess" Ranboo says, dry as Egypt. "Traumatised?"

 "To put it mildly."

 (the child had turned blind eyes towards him, and when he had reached out to grasp the pudgy hand it had recoiled, the small body curling up away from him and he had burned)

 (the child hadn't seen or felt the tsunami that destroyed the entire town. but the screams- they had ears)

 "But uh" he shifts awkwardly from foot to foot "not just that. I'm the God of Undying, so I can heal other's mortal injuries."

 A long pause.

 "Their mortal injuries" he repeats.

 "Oh!" Tubbo jerks back "oh God! The child's eyes-"

 "I healed them" he says, then winces "tried to heal them" he corrects. Better. "But uh, because they weren't fatal they weren't exactly, uh, restored."

 (the mirror is broken and the cracks will show even when it's put back together and you'll never see the same way again my fault my fault i'm sorry i'm so so so sorry)

(this is all i can give you i am so sorry only child lonely child i cant take all you pain away but i promise you here and now you will be lonely no more)

"Damn." The closest Ranboo will ever get to a swear.

 "It gets worse" Foolish chirps "the other towns found out that a child had been blessed by the Totem God himself. Were very interested in what exactly this child could do."

 A long pause.

 Then. "Cults" Ranboo says faintly.

 "Cults" Foolish agrees cheerfully, thinking of a child screaming in agony with bloodstained eyes and a gashed throat as others looked on, indifferent.

 Cults Foolish thinks grimly as that same child is dragged up to be executed by the Eggpire.

[thestormfall]

Heyooo! Happy holidays!!! This is part of LOSH holiday gift exchange and is for @spandexinspace!!! I had to go with querllyle, of course. I hope I did them some justice~~

Back Where we Belong

He remembered the flames flickering in his field of vision, the sounds of the outpost breaking, screens shattering and the shouts piercing through his ears. His own voice, panicked, looking for those that hadn’t made it to the vent.

Most of all, he remembered Brainy - feet still planted firmly on the ground, shield up, protecting the rest of them from the fire. But he didn’t know what expression Brainy held as the almost-blinding explosion went off.

He just knew that the flames never came close enough to the vent and that Brainy’s back was the last thing he saw.

xxxxx

Calling it Legion World, in Lyle’s opinion, made it sound more like an attraction than a base. Rumours had it that there were, in fact, plans to welcome tourists aboard at some point. The Legion had many fans, after all. A man as resourceful as Brande wouldn't miss out on this opportunity. Lyle didn't mind the idea; he wasn't one of the more marketable Legionnaires anyway and honestly he would prefer to keep it like that. Not because it would be more difficult for him to do his job - his espionage tactics relied on him not being seen at all, of course - but he wasn't a fan of being in the media spotlight as some of the others did.

"As long as it doesn't interrupt our work, I'm indifferent to it," Brainy said, after Lyle asked for his opinion. The places they both most frequented, such as the more advanced labs, wouldn't be open to the public.

It was as much as Lyle expected. If his work were to be interrupted, he was sure that Brainy would kick up more of a fuss about it. He might be a bit more accommodating than when Lyle first met him but he still had bite when it came to making sure that only competent people were present in the labs.

While Lyle had never needed Brainy's approval to work in the same vicinity - he had earned his own place there, thank you very much -  it did feel good to know that he was actively wanted there. Some might argue that it was simply that Brainy didn't mind anymore but Lyle knew better. There was a difference between Brainy working around you, maneuvering past you as if you were just another object that happened to be in his path, and actually making eye contact and asking for your opinion. "You don't think it will impact efficiency, do you Lyle?"

"It shouldn't. You know, unless one of your rabid fans manages to sneak in here." Lyle gave a sweeping gesture, towards the lab's benches and screens. "You know how they can be."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Brainy, turning back to his current project. Before his face was obscured, Lyle could swear that he saw Brainy's lips curl up for a fraction of a second. "I don't have 'rabid' fans."

"What, you didn't see the interviews?"

"No and I'm not interested in watching them." Wait for it…"Although I have had extracts of what they've said quoted to me. I don't think calling me a genius is an indicator of being a 'rabid' fan. It's factual." 

The casual confidence used to be a source of exasperation for Lyle but instead, somewhere along the line it turned into something endearing. Grife, he really had missed Brainy, hadn't he?

"Ah," said Brainy, stopping his tinkering  all of a sudden. "Might want to step back Lyle."

"Step back - ?"

There was a loud bang and flames erupted from the contraption Brainy had been trying to reconfigure. There was no delay with Brainy's shield coming up, so the Coluan stood there unphased, head tilted to the side.

Lyle could tell that Brainy was muttering to himself but he couldn't hear it. 

His ears were ringing. And the fire, the fire was all around him once again. Licking at Brainy's feet, wrapping its tendrils around them and pulling him in, right into the bright light. Out of Lyle's reach, out of reach from the barred up vent, its walls closing in -

"Lyle!" 

He blinked. There was a weight on both his shoulders...Brainy's hands were on them. He felt pressure on his knees too. When had Lyle gotten to the ground?

"Lyle?" 

"Oh...you're still here." He regretted saying the words almost immediately after they left his mouth. 

Brainy had looked mildly concerned before but now his expression grew more grim. His eyes searched at Lyle's own, like he was probing him. He could tell that Brainy had immediately jumped into problem-finding mode. 

"No, I mean I know you're here, Brainy," Lyle said, trying to course correct. "I know that you're back. Just...hard to believe sometimes."

And it was. Especially when not everyone had made it back. Not Candi, not Garth, not Jan. 

Brainy had made it though. Lyle had to focus on the real sensation of the hands on his shoulders. He had done the same thing when Brainy first returned.

Lyle was glad for it. He didn't know when Brainy became more comfortable with physical contact but each time he did it came both as a surprise and a comfort.

"It would be best if you got used to believing it soon," said Brainy. "Evidently, the Legion can't function to full capacity without me, so I won't be going anywhere again soon." He smiled. "I'll leave the disappearing acts to you, Norg." 

Letting out a breath, Lyle leaned forward until his forehead touched Brainy's own. He closed his eyes. Yes, this felt real, indeed. It would take a bit of time for those old nightmares to completely dissipate but he has a feeling he would get there.

"True. I'm sure I'll need it to dodge your fans. They wouldn't be happy if they saw us like this."

He felt Brainy stiffen and the Coluan drew back, cheeks flushed a darker green. "Ahem. Seems like you are well enough." He helped Lyle up, though he quickly averted his eyes and turned his attention to the partially damaged workspace. "As that is the case, I'd appreciate it if you could help me with this." 

Lyle stared at Brainy's back for a moment before stepping forward to stand beside him.

"Sure thing. Now let's see what you blew up this time..."

[fandomsonrequests]

fake dates for a real wedding

fandom: ATEEZ

characters: kang yeosang; ATEEZ

reader: fem!

word count: 3.5k+

summary: Initially, you thought it wouldn’t be hard to find a fake date for the wedding. You could just ask one of your friends. But it seemed like fate was punishing you for your impulsiveness because all the people you were supposed to ask were busy with work or had their own affairs to deal with. All except one— which landed you on where you were now: on Yeosang’s couch begging him to come as your plus one.

a/n: fake dating au, some cussing

Based off on the songs: nangangamba - zack tabudlo, pretend - bad suns, drive slow - addie

You whine when Yeosang lightly shakes you out of his grip, pushing you away from him on the couch. “But Sangie..! You’re the only one I trust.”

“Well, it’s not my fault that you lied about your ‘relationship.’ Look where that’s landed you.” Your friend motions at you, eliciting another pleading whine from you. 

You see, this all started when your friend from high school was getting married. You weren’t super, super close but had a good friendship with each other. So when he invited you to his wedding, he asked if you had any plus one to bring along. You, not wanting to seem like a sad loner, panicked and said that you had a date to bring along. Your friend teased you for a moment, saying that he couldn’t wait to “meet the lucky person” before hanging you up and informing you that he’d send the invitation through an email. 

Initially, you thought it wouldn’t be hard to find a fake date for the day. You could just ask one of your friends. But it seemed like fate was punishing you for your impulsiveness because all the people you were supposed to ask were busy with work or had their own affairs to deal with. All except one— which landed you on where you were now: on Yeosang’s couch begging him to come as your plus one.

“You said you weren’t busy,” You pout and fold your arms like a petulant child. 

“Well I’m not, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to go and pretend to be your date.” He countered.

“And why not?”

“Because it’s lowkey weird..?” He suggests. In reality, it was because he had a massive crush on you. He had one since sophomore year of high school, he just couldn’t really bring himself to tell you then. He could probably tell you at this point in life but he wasn’t ready— not yet anyway. And he didn’t want to hurt himself by pretending to be your date during the wedding. Sure, it was a selfish move on his part, but he’s been hurt before. He didn’t want to be hurt again. Besides, you probably don’t see him as someone more than a friend just like in high school, and he’d rather not deal with the consequences of this seemingly one-sided love.

“It’s just for a day, pleeeaaasee,” you try again and put on your best puppy eyes.

The male sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to resist that, no matter how much he steeled his nerves. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he weighed over his options, which wasn’t much, come to think of it. Maybe he could just indulge in this fantasy for a while, even if it didn’t last forever; at least he could have that luxury. With a final sigh for the umpteenth time this day, he agreed reluctantly.

“Fine,” he replied and you rejoiced. “You’re paying me though.”

Your cheery deposition drops and you blanch. “What?”

“I’m only kidding,” Yeosang adds before you could panic, the corner of his lips quirking up in an amused smile, showcasing some of his beautiful pearly whites.

You grumble, lightly swatting at his arm and he chuckled softly. You couldn’t help but drop your annoyed act and smile in return, glad that things were working out in your favor. You look down to bring out your phone so that you could explain the details to him, missing the way he looked at you fondly, eyes full of yearning for you.

“Since it’s a ‘summer wedding’ it’ll be by the beach. So that means we can wear light but business casual clothes.” You tell him and hand him the phone. 

Yeosang takes it from you, fingers faintly brushing against yours as he reads over the email. You note the way his brows lightly furrow together as he takes note of the invitation’s content. You also note a cute little quirk of his, the way his lips would part slightly or pout just a bit when he was concentrating. You blink away from your trance when you realized that you were staring. Since when were you fixated on the little things about him?

“Have you picked out what you’re going to wear?” He asks and hands the phone back to you. “Because if we’re going to go as a ‘couple,’ we’re going to have to match a little.”

“Oh wow, you’re really going all out with this.” You muse, a light blush coating your cheeks. 

“I mean it’s not a usual thing to pretend to be your best friend’s date to a wedding. Why not make the most of it?”

You smile at the thought. “Yeah, let’s make the most of it.”

The smell of the cool sea breeze fills your lungs as you step out of the car and onto the warm, concrete beside the boardwalk. The wind gently ruffles your hair and pale blue sundress, caressing your skin softly. A content smile makes its way to your face as you take in the warm sight of the waves rolling onto the beach in front of you before looking over to Yeosang. 

His round-rimmed spectacles sat atop of his cute nose, his honey skin seemingly glowing under the sunlight. The outfit he donned, which was a blue button-up top and some white pants, matched yours. He looks over to you with a curious raise of his brow to which you respond with a dorky smile and a shrug. You walk over to him and loop an arm around his. He welcomes the action, even briefly squeezing your hand before walking with you down to the beach where the wedding was to take place. 

“You remember the plan?” He adjusts your sun-hat to keep it from falling off your head.

You nod in response and try to keep your cool. It only dawned on you how nerve-wracking it could be to fake a relationship; you wondered how Yeosang managed to keep calm. “We met in our junior year of high school, messed around a bit in college before getting together just recently.”

The blonde hummed in approval. Actually, the story you conjured up wasn’t too fake; you two did somehow skirt around your feelings for each other in your freshman year of college before you both decided it was best to stop messing around and focus on your studies. It spared both of you the dramatics of the “what are we” phase and allowed you to keep track of your goals in life. The only thing that you lied about was you two being together. But given your history with each other, your friends wouldn’t really question the backstory too much. 

“______!” Your college friends call out to you when they spot you heading down the beach. 

You let out an excited noise, to which Yeosang couldn’t help but chuckle at, and ran out to meet them. They joined you halfway, the strongest of the whole group lifting you into a bone-crushing hug and giving you a small twirl. The blond watches from a respectable distance as you exchanged pleasantries with your friends, talking about what was new and how life was going, the usual stuff. 

The little group was currently caught up in a story when you looked over to Yeosang. He was dusting off the hat that fell off your head, shaking his head in amusement. You motion for him to come join you with a small nod of your head, holding your hand out to him. This doesn’t go unnoticed by one of your friends and she follows your line of sight. A pleasant gasp escaped her lips when she saw him approach the group. 

“Well look who’s here,” She muses, taking note of the way he settled behind you and placed the hat back onto your head. 

“Oh, Yeosang you’re here!” Another friend greets. “Were you invited?”

The said man shook his head, a subtle but charming smile on his beautiful lips. “I just came here with _____.”

The group looks to you expectantly and you simply smile at them, a faint blush on your cheeks. “He’s my plus one.”

Small cheers and whistles erupted from the group, furthering the blush on your cheeks. Even Yeosang’s complexion grew a little rosier at their teasing. One of your friends slings an arm around your shoulder and smirks. “So, are you two a thing or just playing around?”

“We just got together recently. We’re taking this seriously.” You answer, trying not to stammer. 

Another round of cheers.

“That’s great. It's about time you two became a thing.” Your friend pipes up. “It was painful seeing you two pine after each other during freshman year and then just drop it like that.”

“Yeah, I lost 20 bucks because of that.” Another friend sighed, reminiscing the bet they had lost. 

The conversation eventually shifted onto other things, surprising you at how well they received the news. You relaxed a bit more at that, the nerves and anxiousness of pretending melting away as the day goes on. But a small thought lingered at the back of your head; you wondered how things would turn out if you did act on your feelings then. Back then, you weren’t so sure if it was genuine affection that you felt towards Yeosang or just pure infatuation. But now that your friends had cleared up a few things and that you could think more maturely, you realized that maybe… maybe you really did like him.

More guests soon poured in and people started to usher you towards the seats. Before you could though, Yeosang stops you by the shoulder. “Save me a seat, please. I’ll just place the gift on the table.” 

“Don’t take too long.” You reply and head over to a seat near the front. You place your hat down on the chair to your right while your friend from earlier takes a seat on your left. You smile at her, linking your hand with hers and giving it a small squeeze. 

“Hey Bora.”

“Hey, ____. Where's the loverboy?” She nudged your shoulder.

“He’s just placing the gifts down.”

She hums in acknowledgment, nodding her head along. “Since you and Kang are like, a thing now— I’m assuming he’s told you about his crush on you?”

“Uh Yeah. I mean, that kind of led to why we’re together now.” You play along, not knowing that your friend was being serious. 

“That’s great. The guy’s been whipped for you for ages. I think since sophomore or junior year in high school? Hasn’t stopped thinking of you since.” Bora muses and crosses her arms over her chest, looking over to the groom who was taking his place at the front. 

You on the other hand was surprised to hear what she had said. It was written all over your face no matter how hard you tried. Your friend, ever observant, sees this and guffaws. “Wait, he's never told you?” 

“I, I mean I thought like, he liked me in college. I didn’t know it’s been that long.” You stutter.

She shakes her head in disbelief, chuckling softly. “Wow… you two are really hopeless huh…” She pats the back of your hand when she sees Yeosang approach. 

You look over your shoulder to see the blond slide into the seat you save him. “Thanks,” he tells you, briefly patting your knee. 

You could only nod and smile in response, still trying to process what your friend had abruptly told you. Butterflies filled your stomach at the thought that he had liked you for so long, but at the same time, you couldn’t help but berate yourself for being so oblivious to it. Had he even dropped hints before? Come to think of it, he probably has but you most likely brushed it off as a friendly act. 

You look up at Yeosang again, as if looking at him would help you bring your thoughts together. He surprises you when he turns to you, raising a brow curiously. Your cheeks flush out of embarrassment and look away, clearing your throat to play it off. You pick up an amused sort of huff from the man beside you and if you hadn’t turned away, you would’ve seen the blush spreading from his cheeks to his ears.

The music is light and upbeat as it plays throughout the wedding-reception area. Soft waves roll onto the shore, eliciting some giggles from the few children that were brought by their parents. The sun starts to set, painting the sky in warm hues of gold, orange, and lavender. And if you listen closely, you could hear the faint sounds of cicadas warming up. Guests enjoy the food being served to them while some hit the sandy dance floor. The newlyweds of the hour were going around and greeting their friends and family, making some small talk here and there before moving onto the next people. 

You had already exchanged pleasantries with them, the groom being delightfully surprised that it was Yeosang who was your plus one. The two weren’t close, but you could tell that they respected each other. As you wave goodbye to the couple, you turn to the blond with your signature dorky smile. 

“What?” He muses, taking your hand in his and rubbing the soft skin of your knuckles with his thumb. 

“Nothing,” You hum and sigh blissfully. 

“That doesn’t sound like ‘nothing.’” He gently nudged your shoulder. 

You sigh again and cross your arms over your chest. “It’s just me being all emotional and sappy.”

The music from the nearby stereo shifts into something slow but no less upbeat, perfect for just swaying to the beat. Your expression changes into something more optimistic and an idea crosses your head. You beam up at Yeosang and start skipping towards the dance floor, tugging along at his hand. 

Of course, he was reluctant at first. But after some coaxing and your signature puppy eyes, he caves in and joins you. He could feel his heart beat rapidly against his chest as he pulled you close, both arms slung around your waist. He was glad that you weren’t holding hands because the minute you put your arms around his shoulders, he felt his palms grow clammy. He was also thankful for the fact that you weren’t so flush against each other, or else you’d have surely felt the way his heart rate sped up at the proximity between you two. You felt the same, thinking carefully about how to play out your idea; that is, to ask him about how he felt for you then and to just come clean to him now.  

It was a bit silent and awkward for the first few notes of the song, the both of you avoiding each other’s gaze and shyly swaying to the melody. After a while though, you eventually settle into a more comfortable but quiet atmosphere; it was just two friends dancing together.

“So…” You start, shifting a little closer.

“So…” Yeosang parrots and holds you a little tighter. 

“Would you have a beach wedding if ever you’d get married?”

The blond gets a little thrown off from your question, not expecting that you’d ask that, but thinks of an answer anyway. He hums to himself, contemplating the answer. “Not really— but outdoor weddings don’t sound too bad.”

You simply nod in response and the both of you lapse into silence again. You think of asking another question but that would be skirting around the whole situation again. You could see your friends looking at the two of you fondly from the corner of your eye, giggling to themselves. You decide then and there that the best course of action was to be straightforward.

The song shifts into something a little slower, perfect for actual slow-dancing. You take a deep breath and look straight into Yeosang’s warm brown eyes. “I have something to tell you…” 

He stiffens a little at that, his heartbeat picking up once again. He readjusts his hold on you, nodding his head for you to continue. 

“So… a little bird told me about your crush on me since high school.” 

Yeosang’s eyes widened at that and his grip on you tightened. He looks away from you, staring down at his feet as a massive blush covers his face and ears. You couldn’t help but smile softly at that but you didn’t want to be an asshole and push him to explain himself. Instead you gently lift your hand to cup his cheek, making him look up at you with nervous eyes. 

He swallows down his anxiousness and reaches up to take your hand on his cheek. “Did Bora tell you this..?” He teases lightly, mostly to not make things so awkward again. 

You giggle and nod your head. He smiles a little, still a bit nervous but smiles nonetheless. A shaky sigh escapes him and he squeezes your hand, linking his fingers with yours. “...well, she’s not wrong,” He whispers. 

This wasn’t the way he wanted to tell you about how he felt about you but it was now or never— especially since the secret was out in the open. 

“______, it’s probably selfish of me to say but, I still like you. Like, really like you. That was why I said no when you asked me to come with me as your ‘date’ here to the wedding, because I just didn’t want to pretend. I wanted us to be the real thing. I wanted to embrace you without thinking it’s too weird or kiss you without things being awkward for us after.” 

Yeosang takes a deep breath and meets your gaze firmly. “I wanted to tell you that I loved you without feeling hopeless after.” 

You were stunned into silence at his confession, not expecting him to put out all his feelings like that. You blink slowly and try to process his words. Yeosang must have interpreted your silence as some form of rejection and he starts to let go of you, but you instinctively gripped him and pulled him closer before he could.

He looks down at you and you see the vulnerability behind his gaze. You, on the other hand, soften yours. “First of all, I want to apologize for how selfish of me it was to ask you to come as a fake date,” you say, eliciting an amused snort from the other. “Second of all… I’m… thank you for telling me this. It makes it a lot easier.”

“Easier for what..?”

“You know how back then when we messed around and stuff? I did actually like you too but… I wasn’t brave enough to tell you then and just fell back to what we had.” You bring his hand up to your lips and lay a gentle kiss on his knuckles. “But now that we’ve come clean to each other, it makes it easier for me to tell you that I like you too.”

Yeosang breaks into a smile at that, relief crashing down on him. He couldn’t help himself when he brushes some stray hair away from your flushed face, eyes flitting to your lips. His palm was warm against your skin and you leaned into his touch, closing whatever space was left between you two. Yeosang’s thumb runs over your lip, several thoughts running through his head, one of them is how your lips would feel like against his.

“Can I kiss you..?” He whispers. You nod, already gravitating towards him. 

Yeosang leans in, both hands cupping at your cheek, and you meet him halfway. The kiss didn’t feel like butterflies or fireworks. It was more like a wall finally being torn down after several years of helpless pining and lingering glances at one another. You couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, pleasant butterflies tickling your stomach. Yeosang does the same and eventually leads to you two bumping against each other's teeth.

“Ow—“ You pull away laughing. 

“Sorry about that,” He kisses your nose and leans his forehead against yours. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll live.” You hum. 

You two had eventually pulled away from each other and headed back to your table where your friend group was waiting. They cheered at the both of you, joking about how you two were trying to steal the romantic spotlight from the newlyweds, which led to some banter and teasing. You two didn’t mind though, it actually felt kind of nice. 

The night goes on and the wedding comes to a close. The newlyweds still had an after-wedding party at a nearby club for the legal-aged guests, but you and Yeosang decided to pass on that, congratulating them once again before heading back to the car, ready to end the day. 

As you and Yeosang walk along the sand, the moon hovering in the dark sky and the night breeze tickling your skin, you couldn’t help but smile. You squeeze Yeosang’s hand and looped your arm with his, leaning your head against his shoulder. He kisses your temple and whispers sweet nothings into your hair.

Who would’ve thought that a wedding invitation and a fake date ploy was what you two needed to get together? It’s a silly kind of story to tell to others, eventually, you’d have to come clean to the others, but it was no less special. And you wouldn’t have it any other way.

[fivescoffeemug]

the word that starts with an L.

Pairing : Five Hargreeves x reader

Request : “Hola! 🌻🐣 Klaus and Allison throw a party at a mansion. Reader is talking to people аnd dancing with a wide smile (they just want to forget all of their worries for a moment) and Five is just admire them from the corner of a bar. After a while Reader cannot find Five in a crowd, so they go to the Fives room and, suddenly, teleports at the roof. There are Christmas lights everywhere and slow music thumped through the small open window. Reader and Five just dancing there and talk all night.”

“hiii !!! could you write a five fic about maybe just like christmas?? like just fluff and more fluff 😂😂 maybe they celebrate with family and five is being a di*k like always and being sarcastic and all and he gives the reader a present but it's like a general one youd expect from family like a book or somethinf but then they go to his room and he gives the reader their actual present and it's like an inside joke or just really sweet?? idkkk I'm sorry if this is too specific or something.”

words : 1661

warnings : swearing

A/N : yes, I am combining two requests since they seem to have about the same premise? Hopefully they find this. Sorry if this seemed rushed, I was panicking because I was severely lacking in original content and I still had a lot more requests to go. I’m so sorry.

So there you were. Dressed up in a red and white dress that sparkled under the moonlight, sighing to yourself. This is the most discomfort you’ve felt in a long time, since you never got around to doing anything actually productive besides your part time job.

Though, that part time job did right by you.

You met a boy. A man, perhaps. He seemed scrawny, had gorgeous cornflower blue eyes and the best smile to match it. After your interesting yet ego-wrecking conversation with him, you both exhange numbers and have never gone a day without chatting since.

You arrive at the address he provided you, alarmed by the magnificent house. While he did look rich, you weren’t thinking this rich.

You knock at the door, waiting for a response patiently and a tall ropy guy appears. You were puzzled at his size as he asks for your name. You gladly give it to him and he greets you with warm smile, welcoming you in. The place was gorgeous. Seemingly old but well-polished antiques laid around, and every wall and corner of the house reminded you of the victorian era aesthetic.

All for one boy? You thought to yourself.

“Cool, right?” The ropy man asks. “We haven’t thrown a party in ages.”

“We?” You question.

“Yeah—Me, Allison, Vanya, Klaus, Diego, Five. Which one of those brought you here?” He listed.

“F-Five,” You stutter, soon wondering why Five was the only one named after a number.

The tall man blinked at you, frowning in confusion. “Woah. Holy damn.”

“What?”

“Nothing I just ... I didn’t think the grump would even participate in this party in the first place, let alone have such a stunning woman as his plus one.”

“Haha, we’re just friends but thanks, I’m flattered,” You sniggered, looking around at the dazzling place once more.

“Hey gorilla brain,” You hear a familiar voice call. “She’s a smart one, try not to lower her iq with your presence yeah?”

“Like I said, grump,” He whispers, briskly taking his leave right after. You chuckle at his remark.

Just as soon as he left, the familiar boy approached you, now wearing a suit and tie. He looked professional in it.

“Five!” You exclaim in excitement. “I was wondering if you were going to see me.”

“Of course I would; everyone else in this party were invited by my braindead siblings. You’re all I have,” he looked up at you with his stunning cerulean eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, you soon notice Five frowning as he looked around. “It’s too crowded. Would you like to go somewhere else?”

“Sure,” you chortled. “Use your ‘powers’ or something.”

“If you say so.” He takes you by the waist and a bright light blinded you as you ended up in a smaller room with blue everywhere.

“Wait—wait what—”

“I told you I had powers.”

“Those exist?!” You shrieked. “I—I was just joking I didn’t—”

“Expect that? Yeah. I know, but I’m honestly really not in the mood to explain how it came about so, if you could do me a favor to save it for another day that would be splendid,” Five smiled ever so slightly, and you hated to admit it but it was the same smile he gave you that day that reeled you in.

You both hear ball music from downstairs interrupt the silence that cam after.

“Care to dance?” He held out his hand.

You were stunned by this question as you were when he teleported, as Five has never come off as the gentleman type to you, but maybe that’s because most conversations between the both of you were over the phone.

you roll your eyes as you couldn’t help but smile. “Like you’d really want to dance with me.”

“Why not?”

“Do you even know how to dance? It isn’t like you at all,” you jabbered, folding your arms.

Five bowed quite low, his hand still extending out for your touch. “Try me.”

You bit your lip, shaking your head slightly as you were quite mad at yourself for smiling all this while. You took his hand, and he soon pulled you in by the waist.

You felt as he led you and himself through the music, swaying and moving to every beat. He was surprisingly good at it.

He dipped you, holding you up by your arm as his face was inches away from yours. He pulled you upright again as the music continued on.

The warmth in his arms was intoxicating, if you were being honest. Maybe it’s because you simply haven’t been with a man in a long time but there was something about Five that intrigued you.

“Where’d you learn to dance so well?”

“My dead father decided it was a useful skill to learn as superheroes fighting crime when we were younger.”

He finally let you go after swaying for , the music coming to an end. You hated that you missed the feeling, but you couldn’t help but long for the feeling again.

Five sat down at his bed, sighing as his eyes seemed to look to far lands.

“What’s in that pretty little head of yours?” You chuckle, sitting beside him as your eyes refused to peel itself away from the sight of him.

“Why do you ask so many questions?” He shot back.

“For someone with a seemingly high reputation your patience is comparible to that of a cell.”

He smiled, letting out a short humming sound. “If I told you you would think I’m crazy.”

“I like crazy,” You began, “Why do you think I exchanged numbers with you?”

Five chuckled, but it didn’t last long as his face faded back to melancholy. “I spent forty five years ... alone, in ruins, scrapping for anything that could keep me alive ... I don’t remember how it feels like to be with people anymore. Like, real, talking, breathing people. I don’t know what I’m feeling right now if it’s just ... longing for company or ... whatever that word is ... the one that starts with L?”

You were baffled at first and thought he was pulling some kind of sick joke. However, the look on his face pulled at your heartstrings to beat just a little faster than it should have.

“I don’t want to say it. Words I don’t understand seems so filthy for me to use,” Five explained.

“Then don’t use it,” You proclaim haphazardly. “Let’s just crave for each other’s attention and company, and exchange hugs for the night. Yeah? I don’t know what you’ve been through but if you can teleport here somehow, then anything’s possible right?”

“I ... ”

“Even if it means falling in love without knowing the meaning,” You finish, putting your hand on his.

“You’re so ... pretty,” He says out of the blue, his eyes exploring every corner of your neck up. “I’m sorry, I just—”

“You’re not bad yourself, hargreeves.”

There was a long pause after you both exchange smiles and glances.

“Hey ... you know you’re not alone anymore, right?”

Five looks up. He nods. “I just don’t know how I could waste my time on such a wasteland when there was no meaning to it—I just—”

“Always remind your family of how lonely you’ve been. Always make sure they feel even the smallest ounce of pain you have for each night you’ve shivered in the rubble, just trying to get even a blink’s worth of sleep. You’ll never feel lonely ever again.”

“How could I? I’m with you now, anyway,” He snickered. “You always make me feel at home even if our conversations happen miles apart from each other.”

You held up your arm signaling for a hug, which he gladly takes. You notice is his head inches closer to the crook of your neck, feeling him breathe.

“Oh yeah; I know you want to be an author so I got you this,” Five pulls out a blood red fountain pen that was lined with gold on the edges.

“Is this .... is this real?” You question, unabke to believe the shine in the pen.

“Yeah. Real expensive but I expect nothing in return,” Five hands you a notebook. “I know you wanna test it out.”

Just then, you both noticed how the music soon got too loud for you both sit in peace, so Five blinked to the roof where it was flat.

You test out the gorgeous pen, profusely thanking Five for the extravagant gift. You both glanced up at the sky, questioning how the stars seemed to gleam brighter that night.

“Kiss me once and kiss my twice and kiss me once again ... ”

“Five Hargreeves are you ...?”

“Singing? Wow, how could I?” Five questioned in an overly sarcastic tone.

“That’s an old song.”

“Came to my mind.”

“Out of all the songs ... ”

“I was thinking I would love if it would happen.”

You glance at him, eyebrows raised as your jaw dropped slightly. He smiles charmingly, the type of smile that would get you on your knees but also have you dying from fluffiness.

“You would, wouldn’t you?”

“Don’t pretend you weren’t just looking at my lips.”

You look away from his sea blue eyes, noticing how it’s really started to hypnotize you. “What happens afterwards? What’s the point of this?”

“There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?” He gently puts a finger to your chin, making you face him again. His face was less than an inch from yours, and you hated how much you wanted it.

You smiled, him finally closing the pesky gap both your lips hated. You could feel the man’s smirk against your lips, and it just made you wrap your arms around his neck.

And finally,

after the longest time in your life,

You felt okay.